Final Amnesia
by MissWorded
Summary: Out of all of Naruto’s children, the circumstances of Uzumaki Minato’s birth and early childhood are the oddest. NaruHina, very slight SasuSaku, ShikaIno. Two shot. UPDATE: Now with epilogue action!
1. Prologue and Part I

So! I've decided that whenever inspiration strikes me, I'll be adding to my oneshot/twoshot/maybethreeshot series about the future generation of Naruto. Original, right? Yeah. I know. Anyway, _I Wish _was the first in the series. They'll be loosely related, but they're also stand alone stories, so they can be read apart from each other. So yeah.

And I apologize about the maid's accent … I just finished reading a book set in Britain, and I'm afraid I couldn't resist.

* * *

Out of all of Naruto's children, the circumstances of Uzumaki Minato's birth and early childhood are the oddest. NaruHina, slight SasuSaku, ShikaIno, KibathePlaya.

-

**Final Amnesia**

_"...I can only wait for the final amnesia, the one that can erase an entire life..."_

luis buñuel

-

"Push!" The midwife screamed, and with one final cry, the woman gave a colossal shove and was spent. But it was alright; the baby was born.

The babe's squeals and cries broke the exhausted silence and the midwife smiled. Handing the baby to the attendant, she quietly ordered the girl to clean the baby off and come back straight away. She made her way to the bed, where the brunette woman was shaking and sweating profusely. The midwife clapped her on the shoulder bracingly.

"It's all done now, eh? Hitsuga-sama will be very pleased. I'll send for him –"

"Could I have… just a few minutes alone with the baby?" the woman asked quite meekly, but the midwife agreed. She looked upon the young woman with sympathy, knowing her true story. That she was in her late thirties, though she looked very good for age, and that this was definitely not her first pregnancy – in fact, it looked as if she'd had quite a few before… arriving… here.

"Here he is mum, I've got'm all cleaned up and all," murmured her assistant as she came back into the room. "Cute li'l thing! Barely a blond 'air on 'is 'ead, but he's got these li'l birthmarks on his cheeks!"

"Thank you," said the still-sweaty woman in the bed, graciously accepting the bundle in the blue blanket with a true mother's instinct. Her touch immediately quieted his cries, and the midwife knew what she did not want to believe about the woman's so-called husband – that he had spirited her away from her home out of desire for her body, tearing her away from all that she had. She'd served at this estate for decades, and always turned a blind eye toward his antics. But this – separating a mother from her family – was tortuous to watch.

The woman's pale, slim fingers traced the details of the newborn's face with loving care. "Hello, little one," she said quietly but sweetly, stroking his cheek.

"Have you decided on a name yet, mum?" asked the assistant excitedly. The midwife shushed her, but with a regal wave the woman assuaged their fears. "It's fine," she said with a smile. "I've got a name all picked out."

"Yes, mum?"

"Minato. His name is Minato."

"It's lovely," said the assistant in appreciation, swooning over the newborn.

"Where did you hear that name, if I may be so bold?" The midwife's smile was nervous. She'd heard the name before. She had several things to report to Hitsuga-sama, all thanks to one little woman.

The woman smiled. "I heard it in a dream."

* * *

"Naruto!"

The Rokudaime turned to his wife of over fifteen years with a large grin, lifting her up and twirling her before setting her down gently on the ground as she laughed with abandon. Hinata looked into his gaze with eyes so full of love that he always felt humbled by it. He had never known how much people could care for each other until her. Hinata. The name always rolled off his tongue so pleasantly. He never got tired of it.

While the vegetable patch was neat and orderly, the garden behind their house was lush with wildflowers and a bit overgrown – it was on purpose, of course. Hinata had hated the manicured lawns of the Hyuuga clan, and had endeavored to make their own garden its near opposite. Suddenly they were sitting the grass together, side by side. She twined her hand with his and leaned on his shoulder.

"It's a lovely day," she murmured quietly, turning her nose to inhale the scent of him.

"Mmm."

"I could stay here forever, I think."

Something tugged on Naruto's mind as she said that, but he shook it away and agreed with her.

"I will… but you can't."

"…Hinata…?"

"You've got to let go," she said gently, touching his forearm. "It's for the greater good."

"What are you talking about? Hinata, you're really scaring m –"

"Let go, Naruto. Wake up!"

"_What?!"_

"Tou-chan?"

A pair of pearly blue eyes looked up at him warily, framed by fiery red hair. His second-youngest daughter, Kushina, had snuck into his room and attempted to wake him up. She was still wearing her bright orange pajamas and she tugged on his black tank impetuously.

"Everyone else is already awake, tou-chan. Hotaru-nee even started breakfast for you!"

"I'm a-coming," he grumbled, rolling out of bed. "Away with you!" he called, tickling her and then allowing her to escape his evil clutches. Giggling madly, she dashed out of the room, unknowingly leaving him to his melancholy. He grabbed his Hokage robes and ironed them quickly, not really being precise. He threw them on without bothering to shower or chance his clothes from yesterday, which he had worn to bed. He put on his ninja sandals and went into the kitchen.

All his children were in there – all eight of them. Iruka, Tsunade, Hotaru, Naoki, Toshi, Kushina, Kyo, and Tsukiko. One chair had been left empty for him; another one across the table was achingly empty.

"Good morning all," he said, putting on a mask of cheerfulness. They responded back in kind; except that each passing day, their response grew more dull and less genuine. This had been their morning routine for almost eight months now. Ever since Hinata had gone on a rare mission out of the village, never to return.

Iruka, at fourteen years old, was already a successful chuunin. He was well-liked, talented, down-to-earth, and handsome; 'the best combination of you and Hinata', Sakura had called him once. Tsunade, two years younger, had just graduated from the Academy at the top of her class, tied with her rival, Uchiha Hitomi – and she had already skipped a grade with her smarts. He remembered with a slight smile when she had told her jounin sensei her greatest ambition: to find her mother. Hotaru was a slightly bossy mother-hen who had an amazing talent for her bloodline limit – a more powerful, Kyuubi-enhanced version of the Byakugan that all of the Uzumaki children possessed. Naoki was the quiet middle child with a sweet disposition who was good at everything but specialized in nothing.

And then the twins. Toshi and Kushina were like miniature, redheaded versions of Naruto – hyperactive and ready for anything, it seemed. They'd been entered in the Academy early just to attempt to tame all of their energy. Kyo was going to be quietly powerful, and at four years old Naruto suspected that he held an abundance of Kyuubi's chakra within him, attributing his scarlet-color hair and soft red Byakugan to the beast; but Kyo was also very protective of those he deemed precious to him. Tsukiko, the youngest at two years old, was the spit of Hinata so far, except a slight color change in her eyes. Her status as the little princess only increased when Hinata had – gone.

He was proud of them all – so proud! – so why couldn't he shake this? Why couldn't he live for _them_? He had seen other friends and comrades die, and he had grieved, yes, but then it had been over, and though he would never forget a single one, he felt as if he could go on. But he could not go on much longer without her. During his life, he'd been through a lot. A lot of painful things had happened to him. But her absence left such a gaping hole in his life – in _him _– that he didn't see how he could possibly continue living life as he did. He didn't want to continue his life of questions, his life of wondering.

Was she dead? If she was, where was her body? Had it been given a proper burial? Could she see him wherever she was – could she see how he was suffering without her? What if she _wasn't _dead? What if she had decided that she was sick of life in Konoha with her husband and children? Had she started somewhere new, started over, gotten a different family? Did her husband know that she bit her knuckles when she was worried, that her eyes shimmered wonderfully in moonlight, that one spot on her neck that made her go boneless in his arms? Did he _understand _how damn good he had it?

The last few questions he hated the most. He hated that very hint of any idea that she had abandoned him of her own free will. Til death do us part, the wedding vows had said, but they'd made their own secret vows – even in death, they'd find each other. It was a promise.

And the only thing that stopped him from fulfilling that promise was his children and the people of the village. Otherwise he would've taken to wandering long ago, and then perhaps to an even darker path if that had proven unfruitful.

Breakfast was a mostly silent affair, as it always was. Or rather, how it had been since her disappearance.

"C'mon, Kyo. Put my plate in the sink while I grab your sister, okay?"

He'd been forced to hire a nanny for the two youngest, Kyo and Tsukiko. They usually had to stay at her house until Hotaru and the others came home from the Academy and were able to pick them up. He did try to walk them there every morning – though as Hokage, that was sometimes impossible. Today was already a trying one – Tsukiko hadn't wanted him to go, and, instead of having a screaming fit like a normal child, had proceeded to cry quietly into her brother's comforting shoulder which made Naruto feel like a total heel. It reminded him so much of her mother that he had left as quickly as possible and headed straight for the office.

His paperwork, which he had been so keen on lately, had somehow compounded into large piles again. He was glad of the distraction and dug into it with masochistic gusto. He had several boring meetings with the Elders which actually went quite smoothly because he focused all of his attention on them. A wandering mind often led to heartache, he'd found. His political life was going quite smoothly. It was just everything else that needed work.

After a long and tedious day in which he'd felt like he'd gotten nothing at all done, he went home, exhausted, to make dinner. Hotaru had beaten him to the punch, though, and he wondered why nobody was surprised about this. She'd really stepped up to the plate for the younger kids, he thought with admiration. She'd probably been a much bigger help than he had been in the past eight months.

Feeling moody, he wasted no time devouring his dinner, thanking his daughter for the meal kindly before wishing them all a good night's rest. As he always did, he retired to the garden for the rest of the night, until he either fell asleep in the grass or managed to drag himself to his room. And then he would dream. He would always dream of her, either back with him again, or with another man; living happily or dying brutally; reaching out for his hand, or pulling away from his embrace. Always. He would dream of her.

The illusion was broken by either his alarm clock or a child. He woke up, and his day began again, and went much the same as the previous day, and the day before that, and the day before that day, and so on and so forth.

There was a certain comfort in monotony, Naruto thought grimly. And that was a good thing, because it looked like nothing was going to change anytime soon.

* * *

"I'm home, darling," called the man happily as he walked through the door of his large mansion. There was no response. Frowning, he made his way to the library, one of her usual haunts. She was nowhere to be found. She wasn't resting in their bedroom or getting something to eat in the kitchen, either. The gardens, then.

He found her staring into the sky as she lay on the grass, mesmerized by the utterly pure blueness of it. Her child rested next to her, breathing nasally and evenly. With a sigh, she sat up and smiled at him.

"Welcome home," she said, looking softly up at him through her lashes. He melted. While she was captivated by the sky, he was captivated by her.

"Thank you, my love. Why don't you come inside? You've been spending a lot of time outdoors lately, your skin will burn for sure!"

They headed to the dining room together, waiting to be served by his faithful staff. It was a lavish affair, much too much for only two adults and a baby, in her opinion, but he looked so earnest when he asked if she was pleased that she nodded and smiled at him.

"How was work today?"

"It went well," he said patronizingly, and didn't see her frown. "I won't go into details, I don't want to upset your constitution my dear."

"Of course."

"And how was your day here?"

"Uneventful."

"Ah. Good to hear, good to hear."

He dug into his food jovially, not seeing her jaw clench in irritation.

"Shigure, love, do you think I could do something while you're away for work?" she asked him, conjuring all the sweetness possible to her voice to charm him. "I feel quite useless, laying about the house like I do –"

"My dear, I wouldn't want to strain you. Your body may still be recovering from your accident and childbirth, and we wouldn't want to –"

"The accident was almost a year ago, and Minato is already three months old! I can't stay cooped up here all the time, Shigure," she hissed, losing patience with him. Something inside her was saying that there was no way this weak, fleshy little man could control her, that she was well in control of physicality and that should he attempt to keep her there by force, there would be hell to pay. Her muscles tensed and her eyes were burning into him. What was this fire in her? Why was she this way? What was her drive – what pushed her to escape from Shigure's well-padded cage? Why couldn't she remember anything before her accident? Why didn't her son look anything like his father?

These were questions she had been pondering more and more lately, as the strange haze that had settled over his consciousness had cleared. Shigure was keeping something from her. He wasn't telling her the truth about her life. And more and more she was beginning to suspect that her son was not her husband's son. At least, he claimed to be her husband. Happily married nearly fifteen years now, and they had recently been blessed with child. Rather convenient, in her opinion.

"You will stay safely in my house and that is absolutely final!" he yelled at her, slamming his utensils down and storming from the room. Feeling the anger bubbling up from her stomach, she decided that she wasn't going to eat anything anymore. She thanked the servants tersely for the meal and went up to the nursery.

Minato was playing with a young servant girl happily, but his smile brightened and his attention shifted as soon as she walked into the room. Before kindly dismissing the girl, she asked her to inform Michi-san, their head servant and incidentally the woman who had helped her birth Minato, that she would be sleeping in the east wing tonight. She flinched, but did as she was told. Obviously, there were troubles going on with the master and the mistress, because their shared bedroom was in the west wing; she would be sure to dish to the other workers as soon as she got a chance.

Hinata rocked the giggling Minato in her arms as she made her way to the bedroom she shared with the baby when she was upset with her husband – which was increasingly often. He was not so much his wife if they were even married legally so much as his grand prize to be kept locked away from all other human life. Well, she was done with being imprisoned here. The next chance she got she would sneak out into town for once. Something in her relished the challenge of getting past all of her captors and breathing in free air. That same something told her she had been under the thumb of another man – her father perhaps? – and that it was going to stop now. She wasn't sure what part of her it was, this fiery determination, but she was beginning to embrace it more and more.

As the rebellion in her faded, Hinata turned her thoughts to the one way she could escape every night – her dreams. It would be silly to say that she had the same dream every night, but they always had reoccurring elements. There were two of them – eyes and a voice.

Those eyes were what compelled her to stare into the sky for long periods of time for no reason at all. Those eyes were so blue, so vibrant, so full of life and love that it caused a physical pain in her heart. And all of that love was directed at her. Sometimes, she felt it like the slow warmth of coffee in winter that went from the pit of her stomach to the tips of her fingers in toes; other times it a delicious burn that drew her to this man like she never could be to Shigure. But all the time it was all-encompassing, surrounding her completely in it. His love. Whoever the he happened to be. It wasn't her husband – his murky hazel eyes could never compare.

And then there was the voice. A cheerful call, a heated whisper, a sacred vow, a possessive growl – there were many ways he said it. But he always said the same thing. Her name. Laying down in what was a probably a ridiculously expensive feather bed, she laid the tiny Minato next to her and went to sleep eagerly waiting for her dreams, when she would hear him say it again.

_Hinata, Hinata, Hinata, Hinata, Hinata…_

Tomorrow, she thought drowsily, already in the twilight between sleep and wake. Tomorrow would be the day she tasted freedom again.

* * *

Uchiha Sakura was bored.

Her mission had proven much easier than expected, and as such she was about to head back to the village and report to the Hokage.

Naruto.

It had been nearly a year since Hinata's disappearance, and those months had not been kind to him. Not even a hint, a scrap, had been found – she was missing in action and presumed dead. Of course, nobody had told him of her changed status from missing nin, a much more changeable label, to MIA. Nobody wanted to see that look on his face. Nobody wanted to hurt him. Naruto had been through so much in his life already, this seemed like the cruelest thing Fate could've bestowed upon him – taking away the one person who had always cared about him, the first person to tell him 'I love you', the mother of his children. It was all too much. Seeing her best friend so depressed was awful.

So to take her mind off of everything, she decided a little shopping was in order. It was a fairly large city and rumored to have a good shopping district.

She hummed quietly as she flitted in and out of the shops, hiding her forehead protector and playing the part of harmless tourist. Ninja weren't very well-accepted in these parts, and she intended to keep a low profile. Just as she exited a store dedicated to fine china – they did excellent custom work, and she thought she could drag Sasuke or at least his checkbook back here to check it out – she caught a flash of indigo hair, almost hidden beneath a white rag serving as a head scarf.

No, it couldn't be, Sakura reminded herself firmly. Even though no trace of Hinata's body had ever been found. Even though indigo hair was almost as rare her cotton-candy pink. Even though there was no harm in trying –

She followed her.

It was difficult to both follow the woman and keep up the pretense of the hapless tourist, because this woman was being very sneaky indeed. She took an unnecessary shortcut through an alley to get to a store that was easily reachable just walking down the main road, and at intervals she would double back and take a look around her, as if to make sure that nobody was following her. That only made Sakura more suspicious. She inched her way closer to her target, abandoning her guise altogether and merely sticking to the shadows. Almost there – the woman was just a few feet in front of her now.

"_Damn_," she heard the woman mutter, eyes locked on some person behind her. She ducked into the alley closest to her and did not reappear. Sakura followed.

She took a twisting path of alleyways farther and farther until she reached a nice residential neighborhood, which in turn morphed into what appeared to be the richest neighborhood in the city. Then she started to cut through yards, using lawn ornaments and large landscaping fixtures as cover. She was very good, Sakura admitted to herself, if a little rookie-ish. So far nobody had spotted either of them.

Finally, she reached what appeared to be the biggest, most lavish estate of all. Sakura recognized it as what the locals called "the Governor's Palace". Though mansion was a better term for its size as opposed to palace, Sakura had to agree that it was quite expensive-looking.

Her mysterious woman reached the back wall – for there was a thick wall surrounding the complex, much like the Hyuuga compound – and somehow found a door through all the poison ivy. She turned around one last time and Sakura's heart stopped.

This woman was without a doubt Uzumaki Hinata. After nearly thirty years of knowing her and working with her, she recognized that face even from her far-away hiding place.

Sakura had to get home immediately.

-

TBC…

-

* * *

Thoughts?


	2. Part II: The End

Fun fact: Final Amnesia was originally a one shot. I split it up at what I thought was a halfway point to make it two chapters… and then the second part morphed into this monster. Sorry!

* * *

Final Amnesia, Part II

"_Love is as much of an object as an obsession, everybody wants it everybody seeks it, but few ever achieve it, those who do, will cherish it, be lost in it, and among all, will never...never forget it." _

curtis judalet

* * *

Shigure was not pleased. He was not pleased at all.

His little wife? Quiet, sweet, subservient Hinata, _defying _him? What the hell was his world coming to?! He had bone to pick with that damn witch.

Of course, given the nature of her reputation, he had to talk to her in the dead of night, under a thick cloak, so that he wouldn't come under the suspicion of the city council. A bunch of lowlifes, he thought idly as he picked his way through the woods. He wished he wasn't beholden to them at all, but since they were elected to the position they held some power.

Her cottage finally came into view and he stormed inside without bothering to knock.

"What the hell is your problem?" screamed the woman, standing up from her seat in outrage. "You can't just barge into people's homes, you jackass!"

"You told me that damn potion of yours would last for years, Fujiko!" he yelled at her, slamming his hand down on the table. "You told me! And now she's actually got the nerve to stand up to me? Showing defiance? Should I revoke your payment?"

"You wouldn't dare," she said, calming down. "I could just go to city council and tell them all about your little excursions here. Now close the door and let's discuss this calmly."

Still seething, he slammed the door and collapsed at her table. "The potion _is _supposed to last at least five years," said Fujiko, leaning forward so that her exquisite features came into the flickering candlelight. "However, in rare cases it needs reapplication. If you tell me who your unfortunate victim is, maybe I can ascertain the reason as to why it failed."

"Uzumaki Hinata, the wife of the Sixth Hokage," mumbled Shigure, laying his head on the table with a defeated plop.

Fujiko choked on the sake she had just swallowed. "_What_?! Are you insane or just suicidal? Uzumaki Naruto is the most powerful being in the Godaikoku and beyond! And his devotion to his wife is extremely well-known – how the hell did you even down her?! She's a powerful shinobi in her own right!"

"I have my ways," said Shigure with a sneer. With a sigh, she sat back down again and was silent for several moments. Finally, she looked up at him with a strange little smile on her face.

"Never told you why I stopped being a shinobi-for-hire – it was because of him."

"What do you mean?"

"I'd been hired to seduce the Hokage by my employer. That's how I did it – got them into bed and poisoned them during intercourse." She smirked at the queasy look on his face. "I successfully infiltrated the village and eventually got the Rokudaime alone. I turned on all the charm, but he was totally dense to my coming on to him. Eventually I almost stripped on his desk and asked him to get a room with me."

Shigure listened with interest. He did not wonder how this story ended – with Fujiko's looks there could have been only one outcome. So the Hokage had cheated on this wife – that only made himmore deserving on the beautiful Hinata.

"He looked me up and down, straight up _laughed in my face_, and said I had nothing on his wife. And so I told him everything I could about my employer and stopped being a mercenary."

"…but why?" Shigure asked once he had regained his voice. There was a man who hadn't fallen for Fujiko's charm? Even he, devoted to his beloved Hinata has he was, had had trouble keeping his eyes where they belonged at times.

"Why did I stop? Well, I guess I figured if there were still decent men like Uzumaki-sama hanging around, that it just wasn't worth it. I'd been a borderline man-hater before that, which is why I took up the jobs I did – corrupt men were my main targets. He totally reformed me, and I've been in awe of him and his relationship with his wife ever since." She smirked suddenly and appraised him brazenly. "I guess that's reason it wore off so quickly."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Shigure, dear, you're good-looking, that's true. But you've got nothing on Uzumaki-sama. He's a genuine sex-god. That combined with the awareness that comes with being a ninja and the intensity of their relationship must have overridden the potion."

"Well?" he said angrily. "Are you going to give me more or what?" Her reasoning was a serious blow to his pride. He knew shouldn't be surprised by the looks, but having the 'intensity of their relationship' thrown in his face was too much for him to handle.

"Okay," she agreed. "But you're really going to have to make it worth my while."

"How much do you want?" he muttered. Fujiko grinned.

"A lot."

About ten minutes, they'd come to an agreement. Shigure walked away with a ten-year supply of the potion to keep him happy, along with a concentrated starter potion. Fujiko walked away with enough money to last her a good long time. As soon as he left, she packed up her bare essentials and destroyed any evidence that she'd lived there. She set off into the night, intent on warning the Hokage in person of what had befallen his wife. It was a good thing that the 'concentrated formula' she'd given to Shigure was actually a very mild version of the original that wouldn't last more than a week or so, and the 'ten-year supply' was little better than colored sugar water.

Oh yeah, she thought. I've still got it.

* * *

Hinata crept through the gardens and into the servants' entrance of the kitchen, narrowly avoiding two avidly-gossiping maids as she made her way to her 'accepted' part of the house – that is, not around any other human life but her son and Shigure. It was short work to get back to her room, change into a suitable kimono, and then walk sedately to the nursery as if she'd been in the house all day.

That had been a close call.

After a solid month of sneaking out of the house almost once a day, she'd become quite the expert at it – when to leave, when to return, which servants to avoid because they would snitch on her, that sort of thing. Today was the first day she'd recognized a maid from the house, and had had to run for it. A little grin of satisfaction wormed its way across her face – the idea of possibly getting caught just added to the thrill. Getting out of this stuffy old mansion was possibly the best thing that had ever happened to her.

But now she needed to focus. She needed a plan. She needed to get her and Minato out of this hellhole and on their way to freedom. To find the man of her dreams, she thought with a wry grin.

If he existed, she reminded herself firmly. He could be a figment of her imagination, conjured up by her loneliness and her uncomfortable, totally attraction-less relationship with Shigure. But that same fire that told her that Shigure could not control her life, that she was free to live as she liked, told her that she needed to fight for this faceless man. She needed him – he was necessary to her as breathing.

But however could she do it? It would have to be in the dead of night, she decided suddenly. She would continue her trips to the market, except now she would be buying supplies. A map and some good traveling clothes for a start. Satisfied with her progress, she took a brief moment to imagine that man's voice again, letting it echo around her head and fill her completely. She grinned and sighed happily, thinking of a time when she could hear the voice from his own lips.

Her moment of zen was rudely interrupted by a knock at the nursery door.

"Time for dinner, ma'am."

Sighing again, this time with resignation, she headed downstairs to face 'Lord Hitsuga'. He greeted her with an extra-large, extra-charming smile and seemed exceeding pleased with himself.

"How was your day, Hinata-koi?" he purred into her ear smoothly as he steered her to the dining room. She frowned. He was really laying it on thick today.

"It was fine," she said, trying not to let her suspicion show through. "And how was your day?"

"Fine, fine," he answered without a care. "Please come see, I've prepared your favorite dishes tonight."

"Oh," she said. "Thank you."

Their dinner that night was one of the best in memory here, as Hinata could recall. For once, he actually seemed to listen to what she had to say and he didn't condescend her. Shigure kept her constantly involved with conversation, barely giving her a chance to enjoy the meal that he had prepared for her so carefully. By the end of dinner she was feeling rather drowsy for some reason. She stifled a yawn in the middle of his amusing account of an official at his office who had come to work drunk.

"Are you getting tired, love?" he asked dotingly, smiling warmly at her.

"Mmm," she managed in reply. "P-please…excuse…" She fell to the floor; she was out like a light.

"Oh dear," said Shigure. "Souta! Please bring Lady Hinata to our bedroom. I will show you the way. And watch your hands, if you please."

* * *

"Hokage-sama, I respectfully request a small contingent of handpicked ninja to escort me to this region."

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "There? But there's _nothing_ there. Absolutely nothing. A small province out of the control of our system, one of the few. Why in the world would you want to go there?"

"I've got my theories," she replied mysteriously, winking at him playfully. "Come on, indulge your old teammate and one of your best commanders. I think I'm on to something there, honestly."

He rolled his eyes. "Can I even afford to do this?"

"Don't worry about it. All of these ninja will do it pro bono."

"Oh yeah? You've got a list going already?"

"That's right!" With a proud smile she handed him the list.

"You want me to give up my best strategist, my two best trackers, and my best interrogator besides Anko?"

"Does the list say Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Nara Ino? Then yes. Yes I do."

"But not Chouji or Sasuke." He looked at her, hoping to penetrate the mind that was Uchiha Sakura. He hoped in vain. "Why are they the ones you picked? Why not your husband? He'd be a useful asset to any mission, right?" He already figured that Chouji was out because he was too nice to keep the truth from him. And he had a hunch why Sasuke was not included either, besides the fact that somebody had to watch the kids.

"He'd snitch on me. And what is this? An infomercial? "

"Oh, ha ha. He'd snitch to me, you mean."

"That's right sir."

"You know I'm going to have questions when you get back."

"Yep."

"And you'll have to answer them or risk probation or worse."

"Mm-hm."

"If the Council bites my head off for this…" he warned.

"Tsunade-shishou won't be any problem. She's got your back."

"Well, she shares equal power with Hiashi as Head Elders. And, as everybody knows, Hiashi hates my guts."

"Right. Don't worry, Naruto. It won't end up being a problem. Just trust me," she said with a grin.

"I always worry when you've got that face. Oh, alright. But if _you_ screw this up, we're _both_ screwed, got it?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

* * *

She'd kept the mission in total secrecy until they were one hundred and fifty kilometers outside of Konoha and only a scant few kilos outside of the city where she had spotted Hinata.

"Here's a good place to camp. Alright everybody, set it up and I'll tell you what we're going out here."

There was a flurry of action. In the next five minutes, the five prominent nin set out their sleeping bags, made a circle of stones to keep a fire in, and arranged other supplies for use as needed. Each of them sat on their sleeping bags and looked at Sakura expectantly. She took a deep breath and sat down herself.

"I think I've found Hinata."

"_What?!_"

"Troublesome…"

"That's fantastic!"

"Thank you."

The last one was Shino, and she shot him a gracious smile. "You're welcome, Shino."

"How did you find out? Do you know for sure it's her? Why the hell hasn't she come home?"

Kiba's rapid-fire questions didn't surprise her. Living the life of a committed bachelor, Kiba had very few permanent women in his life – his mother, his sister, and Hinata. Those three he treasured on the level of his bond with Akamaru, which was definitely saying something. The big dog in question had died many years ago, but unlike other Inuzuka clan members, Kiba had not taken another partner. Instead, he had joined up with ANBU, a job in which a partner like Akamaru could not help him anyway.

"I found out totally by chance. Yes, I think after nearly three decades of knowing her that I'd recognize Hinata, thank you very much. And I don't know. That's why I asked you all to come with me."

"What's with all the secrecy though? Why didn't you tell Naruto about her? It would make his goddamn life, Sakura!"

"Relax, Ino! Just let me explain. What if it was Hinata? But what if she ran away on purpose?"

"Just what are you suggesting about my teammate?" asked Shino coldly. Sakura sighed. "Look, if Hinata wanted to start a new life – maybe a life in which she didn't want to be involved with the shinobi system – I didn't want Naruto to get hurt by that. Better thinking she died protecting Konoha than that she abandoned him for real."

There was a pregnant silence.

"You may have known Hinata for 'nearly three decades', but you obviously don't know her that well, because Hinata would never – fucking – do that," said Kiba slowly, looking at her. "I don't which Hinata you've been getting to know our whole lives, but it's not the one I know."

"I have to agree with Kiba," said Shikamaru finally. "I've never seen a more devoted woman. That's just not in Hinata's character."

"I'm not calling into question her character!" she shot back. "I'm just looking out for my best friend. Besides, he would've run out on the village completely just to go and find her if I'd told him. Or what if it was a person who, I don't know, took the form of Hinata or something? It's plausible." Sakura's defense pierced their doubt.

"Alright, so you jumped the gun a little bit protect Naruto and the possible neglect the village would suffer if he left it to find her," soothed Ino. "Now, let's focus on confirming the identity of so-called Hinata. Oh, and Sakura?"

"Mm?"

"What are you going to tell Naruto if this _isn't _Hinata?"

"…I'm still working on that."

"Right well, you work on that. Meanwhile, why don't Kiba and Shino scout ahead in the city itself?"

"Oh, and they're not too fond of ninja here, so I'd recommend keeping that to yourself," Sakura added quickly. "We'll wait here for your return, alright?"

The two men set off and rapidly disappeared into the distance.

"You really think this is her, then?" Ino asked quietly after a moment. Shikamaru was lying down, but kept one ear open as his wife spoke to Sakura.

"Yes."

"Gods, I hope it is. I can't stand to see Naruto like this anymore."

* * *

Fujiko tapped her fingers impatiently against the curve of her folded arm. This was getting ridiculous. She'd been waiting here at least two hours at already, but apparently an _appointment_ was required to get in to see the Hokage. More like the loud and clearly insecure secretary, Moegi, was totally jealous of her killer curves and wanted her to suffer as much as possible. Ah well, such was the blight of utter sexiness.

Her annoyance, however, grew tenfold, as more and more people came in and out of the Hokage's office with seemingly no appointment at all. At first she could understand – higher-ranked jounin that the Hokage was clearly familiar with weren't so bad – but after another half hour, when Moegi let a _rookie genin team_ through those doors, all the while shooting her a satisfied little smirk, she snapped.

"Look, hon, I know you've obviously got some confidence issues but you've got not right to take them out on me! I've got important news for the Hokage regarding his wife! I know where Uzumaki Hinata is! I need to see him straight away, if you please!"

"Hanaka-san?"

Naruto had appeared at the door – his super-sensory hearing had picked up every word of Fujiko's tirade. He recognized her from several years ago, when she had attempting to seduce him and failed quite utterly.

"Yes, Uzumaki-sama, Hanaka Fujiko. I know where your wife is sir, and why she hasn't come home," said Fujiko respectfully as she bowed.

"Please, come in," he said urgently. "Kazuki-kun, I'm going to have to ask your team to leave for the moment."

"Of course, Hokage-sama," said silver-haired, dark-eyed jounin, one of Hinata's former students and Kakashi's son. "C'mon guys."

A kid who looked the spitting image of Neji came out, followed by a Nara girl who walked with a slouch who was a distant cousin of Shikamaru.

"Yo, Tsunade-chan, are you coming?"

"No! I'm staying right here!" replied a fierce voice from within the office. "I want to hear this!" Fujiko looked at Naruto in question, but he only sighed.

"Tsunade, come out of that office right now, or so help me I'll have you running so many laps Rock Lee will be jealous," said her teacher sternly, attempting to threaten her.

"I don't care how many laps I run – I've got the chakra! I want to find my mom!" Ahh, Fujiko thought, one of the famed Uzumaki brood. That did explain it. From what she had heard, they were a tight knit family.

"It's alright Kazuki-kun, she can stay," said Naruto quietly. "I'll send you a memo as soon as I've got a minute to speak with Team 3, okay?"

"Sure, Hokage-sama," replied Kazuki mildly. "You're still running those laps, Tsunade! And, uh, Hokage-sama… please keep me posted."

"Of course. I know you four were close." With one more nod, the two men departed each other and Fujiko was finally able to get in to see the Hokage.

"It's good to see you again, Uzumaki-sama, though I'd hoped it would be under better circumstances."

"How is your field work going?" asked Naruto with a bite of impatience, not wanting to snub her completely but wanting to find out where Hinata was as soon as possible. Tsunade didn't even bother and snorted impatiently.

"No need for formalities, I've got a load to talk with you about," she said quickly. "And the little one here seems quite anxious."

"So what if I am?"

"Tsunade, please don't upset the woman that's going to help us find your mother," said Naruto firmly, looking his oldest daughter in the eyes and clasping her on the shoulder. She nodded reluctantly.

"Yes, dad," she muttered. Fujiko noted that she shared her father's whisker marks and a lighter version of his rich gold locks, but her eyes belonged to the murky, mystical paleness of the Byakugan. Hinata's influence then. It looked like she was going to be a gorgeous one when she got older.

"Remember how you've been paying me a bit to watch over this non-ninja province to make sure that no criminal organization was making a base there or anything? Well, your money may pay the bills, but a girl's got to have some trinkets to keep her going, so I've been selling some potions on the side."

Naruto frowned at her, but waited patiently for her answer. Good. She would get this out quickly and hope he would need her information too much to be upset at her.

"I sold a memory-erasing potion to this guy, a real bigwig in the area," she said. "And, well, he didn't tell me what he was using it for, only that he needed a wife…"

Naruto's lips tightened into a thin line. "Go on."

"He comes to me later and tells me that the thing's worn off prematurely. It's supposed to last three to five years before breaking down, but whomever he had used it, it only lasted some months before it started to fade and was close to breaking down. I told him this could happen depending on several factors and if he revealed the identity of his victim I might be able to pinpoint the problem. So he told me. And it was your Hinata."

Naruto felt a hot pulse of anger within him and the Kyuubi began to whisper ideas into his ear that sounded very tempting.

"He asked for more potion."

"And what did you do?" he asked her sharply.

"I gave him a very mild version that should wear off any day now – so he wouldn't suspect I ratted him out to you or anybody else. I gave him a lot more which was essentially sugar and water mixed with food coloring to fake him out. Then I extorted him for as much money as I could before I came here to tell you."

"Excellent," said Naruto with a cold, malicious happiness. "And who is this bigwig exactly?" He made sure that his voice was carefully controlled. This was not the time to be losing his head. He could do that when this bastard was around so he could smash the fuck's face in.

"Hitsuga Shigure," she said, taking a manila folder out of her briefcase and handing it to him. Inside was a picture of a relatively handsome man with a medium skin tone, hazel eyes, thick brown hair and a roguish grin. His height was five foot nine to Naruto's six foot six, and his build was slim and almost effeminate, the way he suspected Sasuke would look if he hadn't been a ninja and needed to buff up. Behind the picture was several pages worth of information.

"He's the governor of the entire province that hates ninja," said Fujiko. "Very powerful, and that power has been passed down since his grandfather's generation. A lot of people want the democratically-elected council to have more power, though. He's not very popular at the moment."

"Good," said Naruto ruthlessly. His total downfall about be a fantastic way to start a weekend.

"I went to check up on her before I left, and I… saw something else…" for the first time since the meeting started, she was hesitating. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

"Well… I saw… a baby."

A baby. Hinata had birthed a child to this man? He felt physically sick. Having eight kids himself, he wasn't oblivious to what that required – sex. Hinata had had sex with this man. All of a sudden he felt betrayed, even though if Fujiko was telling the truth she hadn't been in her right mind.

"She would never do that!" Tsunade yelled, pointing her finger and glaring at Fujiko. "She would never –"

"Look, kid, your mother woke up one and half months pregnant with no memory at all. Unless they had sex before he applied the potion – very unlikely, in my professional opinion, as she would've ripped his balls off or otherwise dismembered him in some way – the child is most definitely your newest addition to the family. He had your hair," she finished helpfully, looking at Naruto.

"Blonde's common," he replied roughly, running a hand through his hair.

"Dad!" gasped Tsunade. "No it's not! Stop doubting her!"

He sighed and put his head in his hands. "You're right. I'm so sorry, Tsu-chan."

She ran over to him and threw his arms around his neck. "It's okay, daddy," she whispered in his ear. "I miss her too. But we're going to find her soon. I know it."

Naruto grinned suddenly, the first bright grin that she'd seen in months. Tsunade returned it with unexpected pleasure.

"Let's do this."

* * *

"Yes, we've come to see Hitsuga-sama for personal reasons," Sakura explained sweetly, dressed in an elaborate kimono – or rather, using genjutsu as to make it appear that she was dressed in an elaborate kimono. Behind her, Shino, Ino, Shikamaru and Kiba did the same. They were all smiling charmingly as well, hoping that this maid would just let them in to speak with the man already.

The girl bit her lip. "I'm not sure… I mean, Hitsuga-sama doesn't usually take visitors… I'll go talk to Michi-san. Please excuse me."

Closing the large gate, the girl abandoned them to head back inside. The burly guards that stood out of the compound wall leered at Sakura and Ino, who ignored them skillfully. Shikamaru put an arm around Ino's waist anyway and pulled her closer. She rolled her eyes but didn't complain.

It took ten minutes for 'Michi-san' to appear at the gate. She was old, in her sixties perhaps, and her frizzy grey hair sprouted around her face like messy petals of a demented flower.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes," said Sakura. "We're looking for an audience with Hitsuga-sama if you please. We've been waiting quite a while already." A sufficient amount of time had passed for Shino' bugs to inspect the area and find whether Hinata was here. All they really wanted now was to meet with Hinata's captor and threaten him a bit.

"She's here," Shino said, leaning forward to whisper in her ear. Sakura turned her head to look at him. "You know for this sure?" she continued in the same tone.

"Yes. After so many years, it would be impossible not to recognize her."

"Thank you, Shino."

"Well… I guess I could talk to him," Michi said reluctantly. Sakura turned back and beamed at her. "Oh, thank you so much! We'd be ever so grateful."

Another ten minutes later and they had gained entrance into the compound. All of them looked around with interest to hide their covert memorization of the entire estate. This would all have to be relayed to the Hokage later, so they were sure not to skimp on any of the details.

Hitsuga Shigure greeted them in the entrance hallway, having a servant hand all of them a pair of house slippers to wear. His smile was cheerful but guarded, as if he suspected them of their true nature. Michi would not look them in the eye. Shino's eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. Did she somehow know who they were?

"Welcome to my humble abode," he said with a smile. "I understand you've come to request an interview with me?"

"We'd like to speak with you in private at your earliest convenience, sir," Sakura said, smiling at him sweetly for effect. "It's really quite urgent."

"That should be quite alright. Michi-san, please postpone all other engagements for this afternoon until we are done speaking, would you?"

"Of course, Hitsuga-sama." Bowing deeply, the old woman backed out of the room. Shigure gestured that they should follow him and he led them to a room which connected to the back gardens. The shoji had been opened so that light could stream in pleasantly. It was a beautiful day.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable," said Shigure, sweeping his hands for grand effect. "How can I help you?"

"Let me first just say thank you for welcoming us so warmly into your home," Ino said, cutting in front of Sakura's remark. Only years of practice had stopped the annoyance from showing up on her face.

"Yes, you've been ever so gracious," Sakura cooed. "Unfortunately, our reason for visiting with you today is not a pleasant one…"

* * *

Hinata sighed and held Minato against her shoulder, patting his back lightly. His crying ceased when he burped. With a small smile, she put him down in the crib. It was time for his daily nap. She stood by his bedside and hummed quietly, pushing his mobile gently around his head until he fell asleep. Once his breathing had evened out, she slipped out of the room. A servant took her place, novel in hand to occupy herself while Minato slept. Nothing had ever happened, but somebody was watching the baby at all times. It was quite a boring job so Hinata allowed them to amuse themselves.

Feeling hungry as she had skipped lunch to spend time with Minato, Hinata made her way down the hallway toward the dining room and kitchen. Michi saw her and, with wide eyes, blocked off her path.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but Hitsuga-sama asked that you remain back in the private rooms for the remainder of the afternoon," said the old woman nervously. Hinata looked at her coldly.

"Oh? Where is he and why am I not allowed to move around my own house?"

"He's meeting with several important visitors in the conference room just off the gardens, ma'am, and he's afraid that the subject matter might bring on another accident."

"Fine," she sniffed haughtily, turning back around and rolling her eyes. Accident? Shigure had drugged her – twice! At least the second time he'd screwed it up and it had only lasted for a few days before it had started to break down. He'd even tried to convince her that her son's name wasn't Minato, it was Akira, the bastard. Well, thanks to Michi she could slip around through the gardens to his little meeting and see what the hush-hush was all about.

It was ridiculously easy to exit near the back of the house and stroll off into the gardens under the watchful eye of Shigure's yes-men. The grounds were so big and elaborate that it was no trouble to slip behind some hedges and make her way over to the secret meeting.

"…don't know what you're doing," hissed an angry female voice. "You're threatening this entire province with war!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," insisted Shigure's voice. "My wife is my own business –"

"She is NOT your wife!" This voice was a loud, masculine growl. "She already had a devoted husband_ and _eight children before you came along! Do you know how miserable those kids are without her?! My goddaughter cries herself to sleep every damn night!"

Hinata stopped breathing for a moment. They were talking about her! They were talking about her life before Shigure! Careful not to make any noise, she inched closer to the doors. These people were her friends, and she wanted to hear as much as possible

"You are being ridiculous," Shigure said in reply, but Hinata detected a nervous edge in his voice.

"You have drugged Uzumaki Hinata and kept her here for over a year," said another voice. This one was coldly logical. "If she were in her right mind, it would be against her will. You have kidnapped the wife of the Sixth Hokage. Do you have any idea of the implication of your actions?"

That name – Uzumaki – struck a cord in the eavesdropping woman. Some memory threatened the edges of her consciousness, but she pushed it away. She had to hear more.

"And more importantly, do you have any idea how miserable you're making my best friend?" said the female voice again. "All of his life, he's never had a damn thing going for him, and Naruto deserves happiness more than anyone I know!"

Naruto?

_Hinata, Hinata, Hinata…_

She screamed, drawing the attention of the people she had been spying on. Hinata didn't see them as they rushed out to see what was going on – she had collapsed, writhing, on the ground.

"She's having a seizure!" was the last thing she heard before she blacked out.

* * *

Voices. Two of them, both female. There were other presences hovering around, she could feel their energy somehow…

"Is she waking up?"

"Shh, Ino. We don't want to startle her. We have no idea what her mental state is right now."

Her head hurt so bad, why did it hurt? She tried to open her eyes a crack but groaned when the bright light hit them. It worsened her painful headache. Where was she? What was she doing here? Who were these voices–?

Sneaking around through the gardens, a conversation Shigure had tried to hide from her, people from before, a _name _–

"Naruto!"

Hinata shot up, wincing against the light again and looked around wildly. She was in a tent, a large tent; she was sitting down on a makeshift bed and table that reminded her of a hospital bed. Her vision finally came into complete focus and she gasped.

"Sakura! How long have I been out?"

The pink-haired woman stared at her in shock. "You know who I am?"

"Of course I know who you are, I've known you for about all of my life," said Hinata strangely, looking at Sakura as though she hit her head hard. There was a prolonged silence as the two of them stared at each other. Sakura suddenly smiled and lunged forward, grasping Hinata in a tight hug.

"I've missed you so much, Hinata!" said Sakura as she squeezed tighter. "You don't know how different Konoha has been without you."

"Get off, forehead-girl! I want a hug!"

Nara Ino shoved Uchiha Sakura unceremoniously away from Hinata and proceeded to hug her even more tightly than the other. Sakura regained her balance before falling over – just barely -

"Ino – can't – breathe –"

"Sorry, sorry! I'm just so excited! Omigod, I'm getting Kiba and Shino, I want to see the looks on their faces when they see you up and about," Ino cheered as she leapt off the prone woman and strode out of the tent with a spring in her step. Outside, however, she was nearly bowled over as Kiba came bounding in through the tent flap.

"I heard you get up!" The excitement and happiness in his eyes faded for a moment and he looked at her hesitantly. "Um…you do know who I am, right?"

"Of course I do, Kiba-kun," she said with a soft smile, tacking on the affectionate –kun suffix to the end of his name just like old times. With his grin returning in record time, Kiba rushed forward and Hinata was once again enveloped in a hug.

"Gods, Hina, we missed you," he told her quietly, not releasing their hug. "Hotaru-chan has been a mess…"

Hinata flinched. "Explain."

"Well, she's taken on a lot of the jobs that you used to do, cooking and such. She keeps it together during the day, but Tsu-chan told me that she –"

"Cries herself to sleep."

"How did you know?"

"Your conversation with Shigure," she admitted. "You didn't think I was there by accident, did yo–"

Hinata froze mid-sentence. A very familiar chakra was in the range of her sensory abilities, stunted as they were this past year in helpless exile. She out of the tent faster than either Kiba or Sakura registered.

The cool, early-morning wind cut at her face mercilessly but she didn't care, all she cared about was finding the source of that chakra as soon as possible. Closer, closer –

"Are you finally up, Hizashi? It took you long enough to do it," scolded a voice that sounded so familiar. It didn't belong to the chakra signature she had sensed initially, but it was still familiar. Hinata stopped a mere ten feet away from the campsite. She had been so fast, she'd gone about eight miles before she'd remembered to stop. That was fine, though, because she was at her destination. Suddenly aches and cramps descended on her muscles. Damn, she was out of shape. It had been far, far too long since she'd moved like that.

"Someone's out there," said a feminine voice sharply. This one was completely foreign.

"Tsunade-chan –"

"Right, sensei!" Hinata stood very, very still as she heard Tsunade activate her bloodline limit.

"…"

"Tsunade-chan? Is something – wait, where are you going?!"

A blonde, twelve year old girl emerged from the undergrowth not a few paces from her. Their eyes locked on each other, and even when her companions broke through the foliage next to her, neither moved. She was covered in shadows, her identity hidden from the others, but Tsunade knew her chakra and her coils. There was only one person this could be.

"Mom!"

"Tsunade!"

Both of them threw themselves at each other, embracing with the intention never to let go. They laughed for no reason at all and said things that anyone would suspect – I missed you, I love you, how are you. There was pure happiness on both of their faces.

"Tsunade! Get away from her immediately! We don't know if she's really Hinata-sensei," snapped Kazuki sharply as he moved to pull her away. The blonde firecracker turned to face him with a glare.

"I think I can recognize the chakra and the coils of my own mother, thank you very much!"

"There are many ways I can prove that I'm Hinata, Kazu-kun, including plenty of embarrassing stories about you," teased Hinata, eyes shimmering playfully. "Do you really want me to –"

"No!" he all but shouted as his students said in unison, "Yes!"

"I think we've confirmed her identity," said Kazuki hurriedly. "Only an Uzumaki would make such an offer after all."

"Yatta!" cheered Tsunade, turning back to her mother and hugging her tightly again.

"Welcome back, Aunt Hinata," said Hizashi quietly, looking in her general direction.

"I'm glad to see you, Hizashi-kun," she said, smiling at him. He quickly ducked his head, also smiling. Neji and Tenten's eldest was a quiet boy who was borderline shy. Nowhere near as bad as she had been, but still very quiet and unused to much human contact, despite his mother's outgoing exuberance. He was also blind. The only time he could see was when he activated his Byakugan. As if to compensate for his sight, he had been born with hearing skills that were far above the norm and only continued to improve.

"Good thing you're back, Uzumaki-sama," drawled Shikamaru's cousin as politely as she was able. "The Hokage's been a real drag without you there."

"An excellent addition to the team," Hinata said approvingly, drawing a very small blush from Shikame. "Though I can barely believe you've graduated, Tsu-ko," said Hinata, ruffling her daughter's ponytail. "Did you beat Hitomi-chan?"

"Ugh, no! I got one point off on the written exam! I thought I was going to die! But then _she _got a point off on the practicals, so we tied," Tsunade babbled excitedly, beyond joyful that she had found her mother again. For another few minutes she went on and on until the unknown kunoichi in the background cut her off.

"Sorry to interrupt, little one, but we've got a lot to do," said the woman smartly, drawing a glare from Tsunade. Hinata touched a hand to her daughter's face and the glare softened into a pout.

"And you are…?"

"Hanaka Fujiko, Uzumaki-san. Let me first apologize."

Hinata blinked.

"I was the one who sold the potion that's been keeping you confined here for the past year," Fujiko said in a militaristic tone, as if she were reporting to a superior in command. She half-expected Hinata to leap at her with a kunai. "It was not my intention to get you kidnapped, and I cannot tell you how sorry I am."

"If you're here than you've obviously taken measures to correct your actions, and I thank you for that. Apology is accepted in full."

Fujiko stared at Hinata for a long moment, and then smiled. "Thank you, Uzumaki-san. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to address the issue of your son –"

Hinata gasped, looking haunted. "Minato," she said weakly, and Kazuki was quick enough to support her before she collapsed.

"Sensei, please stay calm," urged Kazuki, cradling her suddenly frail form against him. There was an undercurrent of worry in his voice. This woman had been a mother figure in his life after he was raised by only Kakashi for eight years – his birth mother had abandoned him on his father's doorstep when he was four. Much like Kiba, she was one of the few permanent women in his life and he cared for her greatly.

"How can I be calm when one of my children is in the arms of that bastard Shigure?" Hinata hissed angrily. But it wasn't anger at her former student; it was anger at herself. How could she have been so stupid! A small part of her told her that it wasn't her fault, that Sakura and the others had taken her from the premises without knowing about Minato. But still…

"I know Shigure well, Uzumaki-san. I think there is still time. He knows you love your child, and that you will come back for him. That's a trump card he will not throw away soon," said Fujiko calmly, trying to defuse the situation.

"You're right," said Hinata firmly, pulling herself away from Kazuki. "I don't know if you know this, but I was taken from the grounds by –"

"Sakura-san and her team," Kazuki finished for her. "We know. And we knew that they didn't know about the baby, which is why we were trying to hurry. Apparently, we weren't fast enough."

"Dad couldn't come," said Tsunade as she looked up at her mother. "He really wanted to, you should've seen his face – but he had a meeting with the Raikage."

Hinata's gaze turned chilly. "The Raikage?" _In MY village? _Was tacked on to the end silently. Anything Kumogakure-related was still a sore point for Hinata and most other Hyuuga. Then it was true. Naruto could not afford to miss that meeting – relations with Kumo were still tenuous. They couldn't let anyone but the Hokage speak with him.

"He has ANBU tracking all the people with bloodline limits," said Kazuki. "He even assigned a few agents to watch Kyo, Tsukiko, Mimi, Katsu, and Harumi specifically," he finished, naming off the two youngest Uchiha and Hizashi's younger sister.

"She prefers Midori Miho or Midori to Mimi, you know," said Hinata, grinning tiredly for a moment. "You have no idea how much the nickname Mimi annoys her."

"Yes I do," he said, looking offended. "That's why I keep doing it."

She shook her head in amusement before turning to all of them with a serious face. "Alright, Team 3. Pack up your camp and get ready to go, there's no time to spare."

* * *

The Godaime Raikage was a great guy. Really. He was. Naruto could tell that his motivations were sincere and peace-oriented. But he could not focus on this meeting.

"…most of our people are sick of being at war with everybody else, you know? We just want… we just want to run around like chickens with our heads cut off."

"Yes, of course Raikage-san."

"Hokage-san, I don't think you're listening to me."

"Yes, of course Raikage-san."

The young and rather dashing Raikage grinned at Naruto's glazed blue eyes. "I can't help but think you're not paying me the slightest bit of attention."

"Yes, of course – oh, shit."

The Godaime laughed loudly while Naruto grumbled. At least where others would take offense he was amused.

"Hokage-san, I can see that this meeting isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Might I ask why you are so distracted?"

"My wife went missing about a year ago…"

The Raikage blanched. "I can assure you that we had nothing at all to do with that –"

"No, no, it's not an accusation. We've found the culprit. It's just that –"

"You wish you could be out there getting her back, but instead you're stuck here with little old me," the Raikage guessed intuitively. Naruto shrugged without apology.

"Well, yeah. No offense." His grin was strained.

"None taken. I wonder if it might be prudent to postpone our meeting until a later date."

Naruto winced. That was tantamount to slapping the Raikage and his formal delegation in the face. Desperately, he attempted to salvage the talks.

"No, no, that won't do at all, this is far more important –"

"Please don't insult my intelligence, Hokage-san. I'm a Kage too, if you recall. Look, I'll make it easy on you."

Naruto looked at him skeptically.

"I've taken ill," said the Raikage very seriously. "I'll need to be escorted back to my quarters immediately."

"I would be more than happy to resume talks at your earliest convenience, Raikage-san," said Naruto formally, grinning all the while.

"Yes, that would be ideal I believe. Oh dear, I'm getting faint…"

"Taka-san, Tora-san, please escort the Raikage to his rooms, he's feeling under the weather," said Naruto. Two ANBU materialized out of the shadows and nodded, one with a hawk mask and one with a tiger mask. They led the Raikage out of the room. He was surprisingly mobile despite his "illness".

Naruto wasted no time, and within minutes Kakashi was in his office.

"Hello, Hokage-sama," he said. In his fifties now, Kakashi was just as able and well-preserved as Jiraiya had been at that age.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're in the charge of the village until I get back," said Naruto authoritatively. Kakashi spluttered, dropping his fabled orange book on to the floor.

"H-hokage-sama! I can't –"

"Shut the hell up, Kakashi, and do what I tell you to," said Naruto severely. "Sakura would've been my first choice, but as she's currently out of the village… the task falls to you."

"But… but what about Sasuke?" Kakashi asked him desperately.

"It's an old law, but anyone who's turned traitor – even if they come back – can't substitute for a Hokage, even for the very short while I plan to be away. So I guess that makes you third choice, but you'll do."

"B-but… what about my porn?" asked Kakashi forlornly, looking up at Naruto with one eye brimming with tears.

"Ugh," Naruto muttered. "I can't believe such an upstanding ninja like Kazuki-kun was raised by you. If all goes well," he said louder, "I should be back within a few hours." Maybe I'll delay my coming back just to torture you, Kakashi-sensei, he added silently with a hidden smirk.

"I'm off to save the day, Moegi-chan!" yelled Naruto through the door. When he heard his secretary give an affirmative yell, he leapt out of the window and was gone within seconds. Kakashi, still pouting, sauntered over to the desk and looked it over.

"Not paperwork!"

-

Packing up camp and regrouping with the five renowned jounin had taken twenty minutes. Hinata was taking point and refused to let up, running almost helter-skelter through the tree tops until they thinned into nothing; then she took the ground, not once letting up speed as she headed for the city.

"Hinata, your muscles will not stand for that sort of treatment!" Sakura warned her, struggling to catch up despite her months of active duty over Hinata's imprisonment. Where was she getting this energy?! "You'll be hating yourself tomorrow morning!"

Hinata ignored her.

"Don't you think it would be better to talk over a plan very quickly than to rush in blindly? He could injure us with the resources at his disposal."

Still nothing.

"You're putting Tsunade and Team 3 in unnecessary danger, Hinata," Sakura growled at her. The bluenette immediately stopped, landing gracefully on her feet as if she had been jogging lightly instead of hurtling at full tilt. Sakura, not possessing such balance, ground to a stop about twenty paces ahead of Hinata, leaving a large gouge in the ground.

"Sorry," Hinata mumbled.

You don't sound sorry, Sakura wanted to snap back. But she couldn't. Just imagining someone keeping her baby Katsu captive was enough to make her punch a hole in the chest of anyone who got in her way. She was surprised Hinata listened to as much reason as she did.

Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, and Shino were only a bit behind. Fujiko was soon to follow. Kazuki held up the rear, followed by an exhausted Team 3.

"I'm sorry," Hinata repeated, directing her apology with much more sincerity toward Tsunade, Shikame, and Hizashi. Tsunade, who was already recovering her wind, nodded knowingly. Hizashi only waved his hand in acceptance. Shikame, who easily had the worst endurance out of the three, was red-faced and panting heavily. She didn't bother to do anything – she only spent her time recuperating, for they would undoubtedly be on the move again soon.

"Alright," said Shikamaru, drawing everyone attention to him. "Here's what –"

He paused midsentence and looked over his shoulder.

"What?" asked Tsunade impatiently. "What is it?"

Hinata sighed. "Apparently we've been ratted out."

Coming out of the city in front of them were soldiers. Lots and lots of soldiers. Well over one thousand, all of them armed to the teeth.

"Guns," said Ino with a contemptuous curl of her lip. "They have guns."

"Leave immediately, shinobi," warned a large man with a megaphone. "Or else we will be forced to take action."

Hinata stepped forward, walking slowly toward the front line, making a beeline for the man who was speaking. He backed up as she got closer until he reached a wall of soldiers and was unable to go any further. The other ninja tensed noticeably as every gun within a ten-meter radius of Hinata was suddenly cocked and pointed at her.

"Hitsuga Shigure, the governor of this province, has kidnapped the youngest son of the Rokudaime Hokage," said Hinata coolly. The fact that about hundred guns were pointed and ready to kill didn't seem to faze her. "We only thought to send a delegation to investigate, as opposed to…other things."

The man sneered. "Other things? Other, underhanded _shinobi _tactics? Ha! Leave, before we make you!"

"Look, I'll try to speak slowly so that this penetrates your thick skull," said Hinata, loosing a small sliver of her killing intent upon the unsuspecting man and those around him. They instinctively flinched away from her and tried to make themselves appear smaller in order to avoid her wrath. "That _bastard _Shigure is keeping my son captive, and if you think that a bunch of imbeciles with guns is going to stop me from getting him back, you've got another thing coming."

"Imbeciles with guns?!" he roared back, suddenly regaining his fury at her slight. "Kill her!"

She smirked. "Oh, please try. I feel like I haven't had a good laugh in ages."

A barrage of bullets tore through her form, but she was only made of smoke. The soldiers took a look around – the others were nowhere to be seen either.

"Damn it!"

-

"We should split up," Fujiko said, keeping her voice very low so nobody would spot them from the shadows. The entire city was in an uproar over the shinobi spotting, and if their presence was revealed they would surely be turned in.

"Some of us should go straight to city hall and speak to city council, they hold the most power here. We could get some diplomatic immunity and give them the chance to get rid of Shigure once and for all. Meanwhile, another group should go to Shigure's house and get Minato-kun."

"I'm going to the house," said Hinata and Tsunade at nearly the same time. Hinata smiled sadly at her daughter.

"I'm afraid you'll be needed at city hall," said Hinata. "As daughter of the Hokage, they'll know that hurting you is tantamount to declaring war. You'll be protecting your teammates." Tsunade pouted but didn't argue. After all, Kazuki-sensei had taught them that their teammates were important above all else. She also knew that even though her mother was capable of fulfilling this job as well, she never would if one of her children was in danger.

"Since I have the best grasp of the politics around here, I will escort Team 3 to city hall. I would like another jounin or two to accompany us…" Fujiko trailed off expectantly.

"I'm staying with Hinata," said Kiba firmly, putting a brotherly arm around her waist. She nodded her thanks to him and smiled.

"Me too!" Ino said, looking fierce.

"I will stay with Hinata to make sure Ino and Kiba keep level heads," Shino said.

"Alright, then Shikamaru and I will head for city hall with Team 3 and Fujiko-san," Sakura finished. "Let's split."

-

He was waiting for her.

There was a long look of understanding shared between Shigure and Hinata.

"Give me my son back," she said.

"Why should I?" His smile was wide and knowing. "When that boy is the one thing that ties you to me, why should I give him back?"

"Please, Shigure," said Hinata, walking closer to him until there was only a bit of space separating the two of them. Ino, Kiba, and Shino stepped closer to her, all the while keeping their eyes on the mercenaries surrounding the estate. One of them leered at Ino suggestively and she spat at his feet.

"If you ever really cared about me… please, give me back my son," she continued, showing weakness for the first time as tears stung her eyes. "If at any time you really meant it when you said 'I love you', _please_, return Minato to me."

Shigure hesitated visibly, caught between being drowned in the softest look she had ever shown him and the fact that doing what she asked him would force him to give her up forever. He lifted a hand to rest against her cheek gently. Only Hinata's Konoha comrades caught the clench in her jaw – the lone way she was able to show her disgust.

"Darling…" he said sadly. Then he turned away with a sigh, letting his hand drop from her face. "Bring the boy out," he ordered Michi. She had been standing nearby for the whole exchange, waiting tensely for an order. As soon as she absorbed his request she scurried off. It was a matter of minutes, and Shigure drank in the unadulterated joy on Hinata's face when she saw her son alive and sleeping peacefully. He looked unharmed. Hinata attempted to walk past him with her arms outstretched, but two of the hired warriors pulled roughly on her arms at Shigure's signal. She snarl she bared at them was so fierce they nearly let her go out of sheer shock.

"There is… a condition," said Shigure, looking down at little Minato with a strange glint in his eyes. The baby stirred, as if awakened by his ulterior intentions, and started to whimper softly.

"Condition?" Hinata hissed. All the warmth and softness was gone from her face. He had said nothing about a condition!

"Yes."

"_Well_?" She was well beyond her saint-like patience.

"Kiss me."

Silence reigned. Kiba and Shino looked at each hopelessly. If there was one thing Hinata opposed with every fiber of her being, it would be betraying Naruto in any way, shape, or form, even if it was to save their son. Naruto's love and affection had been cast off and treated like garbage by so many people that he was extremely insecure, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Hinata knew this, knew it painfully well, because she was the same way thanks to her father, though to a lesser degree. Kissing another man… no. Just – _no_.

"Kiss me like you would kiss your husband," Shigure continued dreamily, oblivious to the tension he was causing. He was lost in his own dream world, a world where Hinata cared for him like she did the Rokudaime Hokage.

"I – I can't do that," she whispered brokenly, voice choking up.

"So then you don't value your son's life?" He gestured to one of the men, who stepped closer to Michi's bundle with a knife in hand.

"_NO!_ I'll do it!"

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Shigure cooed at her, not noticing as her jaw tightened again. She approached him stiffly and he closed his eyes with a slight smile on his face. Leaning up, she quickly pecked him on the mouth. His smile was replaced by a frown with his eyes still closed, as if he were waiting for something more.

"Is that it? Don't lie to me, Hinata! I know what you feel for your husband is much, much greater than that!" Much greater than anything I could've accomplished with you, he added bitterly to himself. In fact, that was what had initially drawn him to her – her clearly endless devotion to her husband. If she could have shown that much love for only one person, then he figured he had to try it for himself. But he'd realized that her infinite love and adoration was for one man only.

"I can't force something I don't feel!" she yelled at him. "How can you ask me to do this?!"

"Oh, I don't know, how can _you _let me kill your son?" he said back, triumphant smile never leaving his face. He knew she was caught. All he was doing was waiting for her defeat.

She took another step toward him with sheer force of will – everything in her was screaming that she needed to get away NOW. Hinata put a hand on either of his shoulders. Her lips trembled with disgust as she got closer and closer, until their lips were nearly touching. _"I hate you," _she whispered.

Then she kissed him.

This was the first thing Naruto saw when he arrived on the scene.

His entire body froze in shock for a moment. All he could look at was the two kissing – one his wife and one her captor. And she had been the one to initiate it! All these year – _all these years! – _for what? He loved Hinata, gave his entire being to her, and now -

Then his rational side kicked in. He knew that Ino and Kiba would not let this happen without protesting unless it was a very good reason. He saw the old woman with the blonde baby in her arms, and the man with the knife that hovered over them both. Hinata broke apart from the bastard and her next words calmed his fears completely.

"I did what you wanted, now give me my son!"

"Just one more time, Hinata-darling…"

Naruto, feeling quite detached as his body moved without him, ran at speeds not yet recorded in human time. The feel of Shigure's breaking jaw under his fist was wonderful, he thought. Summoning several kage bushin – he had the time, he was moving so fast that everyone else looked like they were moving in slow motion – he sent one over to the old woman and it snatched the baby out of her arms. The others sought out each of the mercenaries and snapped their necks, all in a matter of seconds. The real Naruto stood in front of Hinata, waiting for her eyes to catch up to his movements.

She blinked at him. When he didn't go away, she rubbed her eyes, and when that didn't work, she pinched her arm.

"Naruto?" His lips quirked up in a half-smile and she jumped into his waiting arms. Her fingers dug into the wonderfully familiar material of his burnt-orange robe and she cried in happiness.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," she managed in between sobs. Naruto didn't say anything. He just held her close, glad that he could finally be with her again.

"A-_hem_."

Naruto and Hinata broke apart briefly to stare at the kage bushin holding their youngest son close to his chest. "Aren't you forgetting someone?" he said, tapping his foot against the ground. Hinata ran over to him, took the baby from his arms, and knocked him across the head, effectively disposing of the clone.

"Ow," Naruto muttered as he received the bushin's memory. Hinata walked to him and showed him the tiny bundle in his arms. His face softened immeasurably.

"Meet the last of the Uzumaki clan," she said. "Uzumaki Minato."

* * *

END

* * *

That could've gone on longer… I had a continuation where Iruka II came home from a mission to find his mom there and a longer explanation of why and how Shigure captured Hinata… but I was all like, "Okay, 10,000 words is enough." So this is all you're gettin'.

Vocab fun!

**Yatta** - Hooray!

_Suffixes:_ **-sama** is equivalent to calling somebody lord or lady. Lord Hokage, Lady Hinata, et cetera. **-san** is the basic Mr/Mrs/Ms. ** -kun** is used for those younger than oneself, or those one is close to, and can be used on a male or a female. **-chan** literally means 'little', but is basically a cutesy term for kids and those younger than oneself. It's like a pet name. **-ko** is the same, except even more cutesy; I first saw it used in Sailor Moon (Usa-ko). **-koi **is a term of affection used for a lover/spouse.

**Kage bushin:** Shadow clone, duh. We all know that one, I think.

**Hokage: **Flame shadow. Another duh.

Umm... did I miss anything? Hope not. Peace, and review!


	3. Part III: Epilogue

For anybody who's interesting in seeing what all the kids look like, I've drawn them up and posted it on deviantArt… so check it out, yeah?

http : / / ferousha-san (dot) deviantart (dot) com. Remove spaces and words where applicable. Pieces in particular include: "Really Intense 2nd Gen" and "The New Uzumaki Clan".

You MIGHT even find a fanfic there that's unreleased on this site. Nudge nudge, wink wink.

* * *

_Final Amnesia: The Epilogue_

* * *

"And how did you accomplish this kidnapping?"

"I sent a mission request to Konoha, asking for her specifically. Then I hired a group of mercenary warriors from the West. I knew that they could do it because ninja can't sense the sort of energy they use to fight. So I could surprise her."

"How did you manage to subdue your captive?"

"_Relax."_

"_Sorry… it's just…"_

"_I know. But what matters is that I'm here now and I'm fine." _

"I… enlisted the help of someone the people of the city called 'the witch'. Hanaka Fujiko. She made a memory suppressant that I used make her forget everything – forget him."

Naruto barely managed to hold back a snarl as Shigure's commentary wore on. If not for Hinata's hand on his arm, he probably would have punched the bastard's face in. No, that was putting it lightly. He probably would have torn his face off completely.

"And you did not know that Hanaka Fujiko was, at the time, working for the Rokudaime Hokage?"

"That is correct."

The city council looked down at Hitsuga Shigure with judgment in their eyes. The once-proud, well-groomed man had manacles about his wrists and ankles connected by a thin but sturdy chain. His face was slightly stubbly – he hadn't shaved in Hinata's absence - and his eyes had dark circles underneath them. It was hard for him to get words out clearly, because his jaw had been totally shattered by Naruto. Two barrel-chested soldiers stood on either side of him, both holding clubs, waiting for him to make an unauthorized move.

"The council will now discuss your future."

A brief recess was called. After only ten minutes of hushed whispering, the council – five decrepit men – returned to their chairs.

"Hitsuga Shigure, your sentence has been decided. Is there anything you wish to say beforehand?"

"Yes…" Shigure slowly rotated and the guards followed his every movement with hawk's eyes. "I just want to tell Hinata –"

"Well, you can just skip it," Naruto snarled. Only by the grace of Hinata's restraining arms saved Shigure more broken bones – or worse.

"-I want to tell her that I love her," he said resolutely, trying to get her to look him in the eye. Naruto's glare intensified and he felt his canines poke his bottom lip – when had that chakra come to the surface? Hinata did not look away from the front of Naruto's robes, despite the burning feeling of the man's gaze on the back of her head.

"That is quite enough," said the head elder. "It is time for the sentencing."

The man on the far left cleared his throat and stood up. "Hitsuga Shigure, you have committed an act of treason against your country, almost plunging the land in which we live into a civil war because of your own selfish desires. Your punishment is death by beheading."

A small, stifled cry came from Shigure. All of the ninja in the room exchanged glances. For a province that claimed to be more civilized than their own feudal system, the way they were choosing to kill Shigure was definitely on the barbaric side. The head elder now stood up as the other sat down.

"Is there anyone who wishes to dispute the sentence?"

There was a long moment of silence.

"Then –"

"Wait."

Naruto's jaw dropped as his wife stood up. She made to walk over to the elders' table, but he grabbed her wrist and tugged lightly so that she faced him.

"H-Hinata?"

She cupped his face in her free hand and smiled at him. "Trust me?" He nodded slowly and released her wrist.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Tsunade hissed, almost leaping up from her seat. Kazuki forced her down with one hand.

"Relax. I know that face. It means that Hinata-sensei's got a plan."

All attention was riveted on Hinata as she walked calmly to center stage. Shigure looked up at her with hope in his eyes. She ignored him.

"Honorable councilmen, how much do you know about death?"

There was silence at the table.

"As I thought. Please take these words from somebody who knows too well: death is but a mere instant of pain. Death is release from the worldly problems that plague as all. Death is so much easier compared to life! So… why kill him? If Shigure lives, he lives the rest of his life knowing that he failed his country and failed at his goals spectacularly. He's young enough… every single day of every single year until he dies, he will have to live with what happened here."

Ino whistled low. "Damn! That was a clean sweep," she muttered with approval to her husband. Shikamaru didn't say anything, but privately agreed. Tsunade was staring at her mother like she'd never seen her before. It just wasn't like her to be so – so – malicious, that was the word. She suddenly realized that was a testament to how much she cared about and had missed them. Otherwise this man would be getting off much easier than he was right now.

The old men grumbled amongst themselves, speaking just low enough so that Hinata could only catch snippets of their words as she stepped away from the bench respectfully.

"We have one condition," said the head elder. Hinata cocked her head politely. "Hitsuga Shigure must be held in Fire Country. Our own jails are crowded enough as it is. We don't need people like him cluttering them up."

Hinata frowned and turned to ask Naruto's permission, but he was already behind her and soon he had slipped an arm around her waist. It didn't escape her notice that he now stood in between her and the prone Shigure.

"If you can hold him for a few days or so, I will send along a contingent to take him back to Konoha," he said authoritatively. "Hinata has been through too much on this man's account. I do not want her to be exposed to him any longer." That, and Naruto suspected that if _he _was exposed to Shigure any longer, the man might not live through the night. And as appealing to him as that sounded, Hinata's plan was so much better.

"Agreed," said the head elder. "Does anybody wish to dispute thisnew sentence?"

This time everybody was silent and stayed silent as Shigure was dragged away. The sound of his whimpers slowly faded as he was dragged out of the room and down the corridor.

"And now there's something else we need to discuss," said Naruto, not moving his arm from around Hinata's waist. "And that is why you greeted eleven of my ninja – including my wife and daughter – with a group of soldiers numbering over one thousand."

* * *

"Ugh, what a pain," Sakura murmured as they exited the councilmen's chamber.

The councilors had rushed to assure them that what had happened was the mistake of a hot-blooded general who had taken a distinctive dislike to ninja and _of course _there wasn't that much underlying hostility toward shinobi here! That would be ridiculous. Naruto, with a grim smile, had only a few words to say.

"_If I should find any of my or my allies' ninja dead in your territory, you will not like the consequences. I hope our situation will not progress to such a state, don't you agree councilors?"_

Looking decidedly nervous, the men had offered them a week's rest - in the Governor's Palace, no less - a request that they immediately declined. All of them had had quite enough of the place and were eagerly awaiting the chance to get the hell out. The deal was sealed with Hinata when they realized if they were really booking it, they could make it back to Konoha in time to pick up Hotaru, Naoki, Toshi and Kushina from the Academy.

Fujiko said her farewells at the city gates after getting a new assignment from Naruto – she would be setting up camp in Kumogakure and would act as the Konohagakure Ambassador to Kumo and the Raikage. Since no current ninja really wanted a long-term mission like that, Naruto figured it was a good idea. After instating her as a Konoha shinobi officially – she looked extremely honored, and even blushed a bit – he sent her off, all of them waving her goodbye.

Team 3 decided it would be best if they left at a slower pace. They had pushed their limits when running with Hinata and then sneaking through the city avoiding detection. Even Tsunade looked tired, despite her large chakra reserves. Hizashi was in an even worse state and Shikame looked exhausted.

And then they ran into another block.

"What about Minato?" Hinata asked on the outskirts of the city-state. They had agreed not to leave the actual boundaries of the city as in the style of ninja – that is, jumping from roof to roof - but the glares they got were very uncomfortable. Now that they were really starting to leave, they remembered that they also had an infant to take care of.

"He'll be fine," said Kiba dismissively, waving a hand. When he felt the death glares of Ino and Sakura, he shut up; but when Hinata started too, he shrunk away slightly, putting Naruto, Shikamaru, and Shino in between him and the women.

"We could take him if you wanted, Hinata-sensei," Kazuki offered. "I'm sure after helping to raise six others Tsunade'll know what the hell she's doing."

Tsunade snorted. "Six? I helped with Iruka too, you know!" Kazuki rolled his eyes.

Naruto saw Hinata bite her lip and clutch Minato tighter to her chest. "I don't think that'll do," he said, face softening as Minato opened his murky, pale blue eyes and caught sight of his mother.

"If we travel at a pace that's safe for an infant, it'll take us at least a week to get back home," Shikamaru said matter-of-factly. "And obviously we're not going to go at a pace that's unsafe for Minato-kun."

"I'll pretend you said that out of care for my son instead of laziness," Hinata said with a wry grin. Shikamaru turned away, mumbling under his breath.

"I have an idea!" said Naruto. "I can use Hiraishin to take Minato home. I'll meet you there, alright?"

"Is Hiraishin safe for a baby?" asked Sakura skeptically. Hinata looked worried. "And isn't the distance too far? Do you have the seals in place already?"

Naruto only looked at her strangely. She sighed. So nothing was impossible for this man, then.

"Of course it's safe for a baby. I just want to get home as soon as possible, alright? Geez. As for the seals, there's one at my house, one at Hokage Tower, one at Ichiraku Ramen…they're all around Konoha! Hell, I gave a kunai with the seal to your husband to keep at the Uchiha Estate, why didn't you know about it?"

"You gave him one and he didn't tell me?!" As he had predicated, Sakura stormed off to the side, growling and most likely thinking up ways to punish Sasuke. Smirking, he bent down and leaned his forehead lightly against Hinata's.

"It'll be fine," he said as he gently took Minato from her arms. He didn't stir much at the change of carrier, but blinked up curiously at his father. Naruto realized vaguely that he had never held his son before – except as clone, but that of course didn't count. Minato was obviously Hinata's son; those eyes couldn't be from anybody but her. And he was definitely his son – the whiskers were a dead giveaway while his peach-fuzz hair was still a very light blonde – more a shade of Ino's than his own. He smirked to himself. _So this is Hinata's lovechild with Ino! _Naruto thought it was pretty funny, but somehow knew Ino and Hinata wouldn't quite feel the same.

"I'll see you in a few hours," said Hinata quietly.

"Yeah." He pulled her into a loose hug, being careful of the baby in his arms. Then he stepped back, grinned at her, and disappeared. Sighing, Hinata turned back to her Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, and Ino.

"Shall we?"

* * *

Kakashi was never more relieved than when Naruto reappeared. Shizune, Tsunade, and Hiashi were all in the office of the Hokage, clamoring for the attention of Naruto's substitute. Moegi had given up on her secretarial duties altogether – everyone was taking advantage of the 'vulnerable' sub and there were simply too many people and appointments to keep up with - and had instead opted to go out for the day with her boyfriend, Udon.

"You need to look at this list of equipment – the hospital is practically going to collapse in on itself without these things!"

"The Hyuuga clan cannot tolerate the Uzumaki bloodline limit being called the Byakugan any longer – it's obviously not!"

"I respectfully request that the Hyuuga Clan stick its abnormally large ego up the wazoo!"

"Tsunade-sama!"

"What?"

"I respectfully request that the Godaime mind her own business –"

"I respectfully request that Hiashi be informed that the Uzumaki clan is most definitely my business!"

"_I _respectfully request a private audience!"

"Well, _I _respectfully request that –"

_Crack!_

Naruto appeared in the midst of all the chaos, gently cradling a blonde infant to his chest. He walked over to his desk without paying them any attention; his gaze was fixed on the baby in his arms. It took him a long moment before he looked up. When he finally did, he exhaled angrily and glared at Kakashi.

"Kakashi, you wimp!" he yelled, lowering his voice for the sake of the quiet babe. "How could you let these three bully you?!"

"I wasn't cut out to be Hokage," whimpered the jounin miserably. "I want my porn!"

Naruto looked at him in disgust. "Ugh. I still can't believe you're related to one of my favorite jounin. Hell, I can't believe you taught me a damn thing!" He ran his fingers though his hair distractedly before whipping a cradle out of thin air and setting the baby down inside it.

"Shizune-neechan, I sent you an approved list of the equipment that will be covered in next month's budget yesterday. Tsunade-baba, I know you are only arguing with Hiashi out of affection for me and my family, but it's alright. I don't need you to fight for me. Hiashi, I'm signing you an S-rank mission effective immediately."

"Hokage-sama?" Naruto was impressed with the way Hiashi concealed his irritation. The last time he had assigned the man 'an S-rank mission effectively immediately', it was when he came over to their house for dinner before Hinata had disappeared, and the mission was to shut the hell up. He distinctly remembered sleeping on the couch for a week.

"Take care of your grandson for the next few hours," he ordered firmly, in a tone that brooked no arguments.

"Hokage-sama…?"

"Yes, this is _your_ grandson – or the latest one anyway; yes, I've found Hinata. Yes, it's a long story, one that I don't have time to explain at the moment. I'm going to meet back up with Sakura's team and escort them home to make sure they all make it this time. Tsunade-baba, you know I wouldn't ask this of you, but –"

"I'll substitute for you. Kakashi's completely useless," she said, eyeing the joyful jounin with obvious scorn. Kakashi nearly skipped out of the office, happy that his very brief term as the leader of Konohagakure had ended.

"Excellent, you're the best, obaa-san!" Naruto cheered. She smiled when he addressed her as aunt instead of an impolite form of 'old woman'. "I will debrief you on the situation when I get –"

"Nine."

"Eh?" Naruto was looking at Hiashi strangely. The man didn't ever say anything he didn't mean to. So this had to be important in some way… right?

"Nine kids. I was just thinking of the significance of that number…"

Nine ninja villages. The Rookie Nine.

Nine tails.

Well, now he had a counterbalance to the last once. A child to negate every tail, to negate all the misery he'd ever experienced. But perhaps negate was the wrong word. His painful childhood was still a part of him – it made him who he was. Only instead of being a reminder of all the things he didn't have, it made his life now that much richer. Naruto grinned at the Hyuuga man brightly.

"Yeah! Great number, isn't it?"

* * *

Hinata bit her lip anxiously, looking ahead at Kiba, Shino, Ino, Sakura, and even Shikamaru. Scratch ahead - she was looking very,_ very_ far ahead. And though they made no mention of it, and she loved them all the more for it, she knew she was slowing them down. Over a year of doing little more than nothing all day, just being a pampered little wife, hadn't done much for her muscle tone. She was already feeling the muscles cramping. Even she, however, had pride. She wouldn't ask anybody for help. There was only one person she would permit it from, and he was already back in Konoha.

Shikamaru would consider it too troublesome to mention, and Shino and Kiba knew that she wouldn't want their pity, so Hinata was left to wonder if Ino or Sakura would crack first.

Ten minutes later, Ino stopped, prompting all those in front of her to stop as well.

"Look, Hinata –"

"Ino, shut up," said Kiba immediately. As he suspected she would – and for which Hinata was eternally grateful – Ino turned to him and started a spectacular shouting match.

"Hinata," said Sakura gently. _You're slowing us down_. She didn't have to say it out loud. "It _would _be a lot easier if –"

_Crack!_

With a sound like thunder, something collided gently with Hinata, suspending both her and her assailant briefly in midair. Hinata looked down and saw only blonde.

"…Naruto?"

A flush spread through her cheeks when she realized exactly where he was nestled. While in the village, she wore a necklace with the sealrequired for Hiraishin around her neck. Whenever she went on a mission, she left it off after Naruto had admitted that he might be tempted to summon himself to her side if he thought she was in trouble. He had given it back to her within minutes of being reunited and had said in a voice that was a strange mixture of commanding and begging that she was never to take it off again. It now presented a problem though – the necklace fell squarely between her breasts, and that was the place to where Naruto had summoned himself. Ino and Kiba forgot their shouting match and took turns wolf-whistling and catcalling.

"Naruto!" Hinata hissed, blush growing by the second. He only nuzzled closer. She could see the wicked grin on his face when he tilted his head. "Please!"

"But I'm comfyyy…"

"N-N-Naruto!"

He pulled away with a gasp, looking in her in the face with worry etched on his every feature. "Did you just stutter? Are you alright? What happened?"

She just looked at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're not the only Uzumaki around here, you know," Hinata said haughtily. "Do you guys mind waiting ahead for a moment?"

When their former classmates had cleared a sufficient amount of distance for the couple's conversation to stay private, Hinata dropped the annoyed act. She bit her lip and couldn't look him in the eye; instead of a crossing her arms over her chest, she hugged herself protectively, as if to ward off any negative response he could have. Naruto was frowning.

"Hinata, what's wrong? Why are you acting so like – like the twelve-year-old you?"

"I…I just…"

His face grew alarmed when her shoulders began to shake, and he knew that she wasn't laughing. "Hinata? …Hinata?!"

"After so long apart… the first thing you saw… the first thing was me kissing another man," she choked out, clutching herself tighter. "I have no idea how I would ever deal with that…If I ever saw you do that to a woman… I don't know… I just… I don't want you to think I ever wanted to do that!"

"Of course I didn't think –"

"If Minato wasn't in danger, I never would've considered, even for a second –"

"_Hinata_!" Naruto grabbed her shoulders firmly. "Stop it! I don't think –"

"But you…" She looked up at him and his heart clenched. Tears were rolling down her cheeks in a glittering stream. "Not once since you found me have you kissed me! I just wanted to know if you were disgusted by me now…"

Naruto gaped at her. "Is _that _was this is all about? You were upset because I haven't kissed you?"

She nodded tearfully.

* * *

"I hope this doesn't take too long," said Shikamaru, stifling a yawn. Ino whacked him over the head angrily.

"Idiot! Both of them have been through serious emotional trauma! And I think all of us felt the power that Hinata's absence had on Naruto. His miserable mood made us all miserable."

Sakura rolled his eyes. Shikamaru and Ino were so predictable. They always fell into the same routines. Shikamaru would bait Ino, knowing she would react; and Ino would fall for it, knowing that Shikamaru really said the things he did to cover up the fact that he cared about people. And to think that they had been married however many years _and _had three children.

"Forget about that," Ino huffed, flipping her hair and turning away from Shikamaru.

"Really, you two are completely ridiculous!" Sakura said, rolling her eyes again. "Honestly…"

Ino glared at her. "Says the woman who fights with her husband for the makeup sex!"

"I do not!"

"Omigod, you so do!"

"Seriously, why are they taking so long?" Shikamaru moaned, massaging his temples. "Kiba…"

"No way, man. Hinata's my baby sister. I won't spy on her."

"If she was really like your baby sister, you wouldn't let her be alone with a man."

"Geez, Shika, you're - oh, what the hell! We're going to be here all day!"

"What're you – ugh, we'll be here for hours, at least -"

"Don't they need to come up for air?"

"Sakura, they've spent years perfecting this art! You should've been there the day Hinata made jounin."

"Hinata! Naruto! Can you hear me?!"

"Don't even try it, Kiba. You know how they get…"

"Hinata, the kids are waiting for you."

"Nice, Shino!"

The other ninja watched as husband and wife slowly disengaged, Naruto seeking Hinata's lips several more times before he finally pulled away with a ridiculous pout on his face. Ridiculous, Sakura decided, because no man that old should have a pout that adorable. Hinata's face was flushed pink and her lips were dark red; her hair was in disarray. Naruto hooked one arm around her waist and one around the backs of her knees and lifted her up easily. Hinata, with her arms around his neck, didn't look anyone in the face. She cleared her throat quietly.

"…uh, shall we?"

* * *

"U!"

"ZU!"

"MA!"

"KI!"

"_**Sousei no Rendan!**__"_

Several clones hit the ground at very high speeds. The resulting crater formed had decimated an entire corner of the designated 'play area'. As first year Academy students, they still didn't have any access to the good student training areas, something that irked the two of them – and most of their classmates, who happened to frightened of the explosions they created, for some odd reason – to no end. Off in the corner, their class sensei, Umino Ikuki, waving with excitement and calling out enthusiastic praises.

A redheaded six-year-old girl surveyed the damage done with a contemplative look. "This is only so fun on clones, Toshi… I'm bored!"

Her twin looked sad. "I know… but Nao-nii and Hotaru-nee are both in classes right now, and Ikuki-sensei won't let us practice on anybody else, cause we might get them seriously hurt. What can we do?"

"I don't know, maybe you should try sitting still sometime!"

Both of the twins turned in sync and glared at the newcomers. The Uchiha triplets, much like themselves, had been enrolled in the Academy earlier than normal; however, this was because of their high intelligence levels rather than boundless energy, like Toshi and Kushina. Suzu, the oldest and the ringleader, had dark hair like their father; Mai's was a bright pink, a deviant gene of their mother's. Koto was the youngest, and she was also very quiet. She didn't really join in the verbal spars, something that her siblings often attributed laughingly to a crush on Toshi. They didn't know how right they were. All three of them possessed red eyes, a stunted form of the Sharingan.

"We'd sit still, but we wouldn't want to be mistaken for some dowdy, cold fish Uchiha brat!" said Kushina, sticking her tongue out. Other students who had gathered around – probably excited for the impending fight - laughed.

Suzu flushed angrily. The twins high-fived each other.

"At least our mom still lives with us!" Mai cut in, looking triumphant. Out of the three of them, she was the most hot-headed, though that wasn't saying much.

"…what?" Toshi asked. For once his voice was quiet, and that more than anything tipped Koto off.

"Mai-nee, I think we should just leave it alone…"

"No way! They always give us crap and I'm sick of it!" She turned back to the redheads with a smirk. "You heard me! I said, our least _our _mom still lives with us! Where's your mother right now? You don't even know, do you?"

"Shut up."

"What? Does she not love you or something?"

"_Shut up_."

"Suzu! Mai! Stop it!" cried Koto, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She looked at Toshi pleadingly, as if to apologize, and he acknowledged her with a nod. But his glare on her two siblings did not let up. Both Toshi and Kushina crouched in mirror poses. They'd been learning a combination of taijutsu styles, most prominently from their uncles Kiba and Neji. It was a completely original fighting style that combined the fluidity and effectiveness of the Jyuken with an Inuzuka's raw power. The twins were ready for a fight.

"To-kun! Shina-chan!"

Ikuki-sensei was jogging over. All of the students quickly dispersed, except for the triplets. Suzu and Mai were smirking triumphantly, obviously expecting to hear the twins given a talking-to. Decked out in a pink, chuunin-style vest and pink boots, as well as having her purple hair done up with two pink ribbons, Ikuki was a most unconventionally-attired for a ninja, even considering her parentage. For somebody who wore an excessive amount of pink, the twins found her quite tolerable. Her love of explosive things helped.

"Hey guys, I have a surprise for you!" said Ikuki warmly, bending down and grinning at them happily. The chuunin completely ignored their battle-ready state, and slowly, they loosened their stances and straightened up, looking a bit embarrassed and still angry. Ikuki almost missed the slight clearing of Suzu's throat.

"Hmm? Yea, Uchiha-san?"

"Sensei, I didn't know if you noticed, but Toshi and Kushina here were about to start a fight with us," said Suzu, sniffing haughtily as the two Uzumaki kids glared at her. "Everybody knows what a danger they are, and we could have been seriously hurt!"

"I did notice, Uchiha-san. And I would not have intervened unless your lives were truly in danger."

Suzu's jaw dropped. "W-what?! Sensei!"

"Anybody who knows anything about the Uzumaki clan knows that insulting their matriarch is tantamount to declaring war. Also… this is a little known fact, but their mother was my jounin sensei. I hold her and her family in very high regard." She smiled coldly at the two Uchiha, who now seemed quite nervous. "And now that you know my connection to Hinata-sensei, know that it's the same for me. Please, Uchiha-san, let this serve as lesson to you – own up to your words and be responsible for them. You never known when they could come back to haunt you."

She looked away from the triplets and back to the tentatively-smiling faces of Toshi and Kushina. "Now! Ready for that surprise?!" They nodded. "You're dismissed early today, somebody's come to pick up all the Uzumaki kids."

"Eh?" Kushina was confused. "But who? Ruka-nii and Tsu-nee are both on missions right now. And daddy doesn't finish until the end of the day."

Ikuki's grin widened. "Who do you think?" She looked over her shoulder with a pointed glance. The twins looked around her, one on either side.

"MOM!"

* * *

"Where were you?"

"Why'd you leave us?"

"Were you on a super secret mission?"

"When'd you get pregnant again?"

"I thought Tsuki-chan was gonna be last!"

"How old is he?"

"Toshi! Kushina! Mom's trying to get all the groceries for dinner tonight! Be quiet!"

Hotaru was in full bossy swing, which meant her mood was very, very good. She'd been unnaturally complacent in the past year. The look on her face now was one of righteous anger.

"It's fine, sweet," said Hinata, turning around and smiling at Hotaru. She only had to lay a hand softly on her head and her daughter was immediately quiet. "Hold Minato for me?"

The girl looked on with awe as her mother entrusted her with the delicate package. Minato was a pleasantly interactive baby, and soon Hotaru was distracted enough to leave the twins alone, Hinata's main aim in giving Minato to her. Though she found it extremely hard to let him out of her arms after what they had been through.

"Toshi-kun, Kushina-chan, I will explain everything after we go home. In the meantime, please follow Naoki-kun's example, okay?"

The quiet blonde was going through the tomatoes very attentively, trying not to monopolize his mother's attention. The twins pouted. Things like 'quiet' and 'attentive' were not usually part of their routines. Hinata adopted a thoughtful look for a moment, tapping a finger to her cheek. Then she grinned.

"Uzumaki Twins, I'm assigning you a mission, effective as of this moment!" said Hinata in a sharp tone. Kushina and Toshi straightened up immediately, looking excited. "I've split the remaining items on the list in half. Whoever can get the most items first wins. _Wait!_" They froze, having been about to leap into the fray. "Damage to the store and the disgruntled civilians will be taken into account. Remember that!"

"What about disgruntled ninja?"

Hinata shrugged. "I think we've been past that point for a while. Now – GO!"

Ten minutes and a relatively unharmed open market later, Hotaru and Naoki summoned several kage bushin to take their purchases back the house. The real Uzumakis decided to take a leisurely stroll home, stopping to pick up Kyo and Tsukiko on the way. The usually-stoic Kyo cried quietly for a few moments, rubbing his eyes and hugging her tightly. Tsukiko, giggling like mad, was deposited into Hinata's arms by the nanny, who was cheerfully informed that her services would no longer be needed. As Hinata had recognized the woman as one of Naruto's old fan girls from his jounin days, she felt absolutely no guilt in doing this.

Finally, they had made it back home. Hinata breathed in deeply as she stepped over the threshold, smiling widely.

"So! Who wants to help me make the dinner of the century?"

* * *

"Naruto-sama?"

The Rokudaime looked up from his document with a vague look of attention on his face. For _some_ reason, he'd had a lot of trouble concentrating as soon as he'd returned home.

"Hmm? Yeah, Moegi-chan?"

"Um… you've been attempting to read over and possibly sign that bill into law for about an hour now… also, the Raikage's assistant dropped off a message about possibly scheduling a meeting later this week…?"

_Dear Hokage-san:_

_I do hope we can resume talks as quickly as possible. I am so terribly sorry that I fell ill – and so unexpectedly! Allergens are in the air – it must be all those blasted trees. Please have the air around the Hokage Tower cleared before we continue on with our peace agreements. I suspect that process may take a week, perhaps slightly longer. Do take care._

_With affection,  
Raikage-san_

Naruto grinned. "I'll be in contact with him, don't you worry! And I think I'll just go home… I don't think I'll be able to concentrate on much else right now…"

Moegi smiled at him, obviously engaged in his excellent mood. He hadn't looked this good in months. "Oh! Choumiko-chan just back from a mission, and she just told Asuki-san who told me that Tsunade-chan's team just arrived in the village!"

"Excellent. And do you know when Iruka is expected back from his mission?"

"Eh, Uzumaki Iruka, right? According to the schedule, his mission should have been over two days ago. Then there's the travel time… so give or take half a day or so, he should be back soon. In fact, given past missions with his team… I would expect Team 17 should be back in Konoha late tonight."

Naruto's grin widened. "Thanks so much, Moegi-chan! Take the rest of the day off!"

"E-eh? I couldn't possibly - !"

"I bet Udon's waiting for you," said Naruto, his grin becoming a soft smile. Udon had been forced to retire from ninja life after a crippling leg injury. He now acted as the Ninja-Civilian Liaison for genin-level ninja. Essentially, he was a sort-of judge and mediator for genin who had had problems with civilians or the differences between civilian life and their own. Many genin who came from non-legacy families, meaning that they were the first ninja in their clan or line, had difficulty relating to their civilian counterparts, especially after the first kill.

Moegi blushed prettily. "Oh – if you insist, then okay! Thank you so much – and say hi to Hinata-san for me!"

* * *

Hinata gently guided Hotaru as she stir-fried a mixture of vegetables and noodles. Apparently, she'd been doing most of the cooking for the past several months. Her skills, though, still had a ways to go before they reached Hinata's level.

"I'm really glad you're back, mom!" Kushina said happily. Hinata smiled at her. Every five minutes, one of her seven present children would say something along those lines, and it never lost its effect.

"I'm glad to be back, sweetheart."

"Well, I'm gladder, because now Hotaru-nee can't cook for us anymore," said the redhead cheekily. Hotaru flushed with anger, which contrasted unflatteringly with her coral-orange hair, and made a grab for Kushina only to have the tricky six-year-old slip away, giggling, to where Naoki, Toshi, and Kyo were playing with Tsukiko and Minato. Hotaru fumed.

"You know she only says those things to upset you."

"I know! But it's still annoying!"

"I don't know too much about the sibling relationship, but I understand that some amount of annoyance toward the other is key."

"What about Auntie Hanabi?"

"Nothing is ever normal in the Hyuuga clan, my dear." Hinata neglected to mention that Hanabi hadn't felt annoyance to her – it had varied from a mother-daughter bond to indifference to hatred and then finally to a relatively well-balanced sibling connection. Her kids were far more well-adjusted than either of their parents. Hotaru, who was about to respond, was interrupted by the front door slamming open.

"I'm hooooome!" Tsunade bounded into the kitchen and greeted her mother with a tremendous hug that Hinata returned in full. "I'm glad you were still here when I got back," the genin mumbled into her mother's shoulder. "I'm really, really, really glad…"

"Me, too." They broke apart a long moment later. Hinata smiled and clapped her hands together. "Excellent! Most of us are here. Tsunade, get the younger kids and have them help set the table while Hotaru and I finish dinner."

"It's going to be awesome – mom made her special homemade ramen!" said Hotaru, emptying the pan of stir-fry onto a plate and covering it with tinfoil so that it retained its temperature.

"DID SOMEBODY SAY HOMEMADE RAMEN?!"

"Toshi! Kushina! SHUT UP!"

Tsunade laughed at the interaction of Hotaru and the twins, feeling lighter than she had in months. "Feel that sibling love!"

* * *

The seating arrangement at dinner was a strange affair.

Everybody was crowded around one end of the table, where Naruto, after coming home, had insisted that he not be apart from Hinata one second longer than absolutely necessary and then demanded that Hinata sit in his lap. Minato, still being an infant, needed a lot of his mother's attention and was thus positioned on Hinata's lap. Toshi and Kushina, unable to both obtain a seat on either side of their parents, shared close quarters on one seat to their left. Hotaru sat on their right, feeding Tsukiko and trying to act maturely but failing because she was excited to see her mother. Kyo and Naoki, usually the two quietest of the entire bunch, were conversing almost animatedly with each other and Tsunade, who, being the oldest present and having seen her mother more than the others, had chosen to sit farthest away, surveying the scene with a large smile.

The spread itself was one of the largest the Uzumaki clan had ever seen at their table, which was saying something. There was the stir-fry that Hotaru had helped cook, as well as the infamous homemade ramen, gyoza, sushi, a little bit of Korean-style barbeque, and onigiri, fashioned after the faces of the Uzumaki clan. For dessert, Hinata had senzai bean paste, anko, and dango. She had truly outdone herself in her own welcome back meal. As their feast slowly wound down, all of the kids grew quieter as the truth slowly set in, even the twins. All of them sat around the table and basked in the glow of a finely-cooked meal and the fact that they were a whole family once again. Or almost.

"Hinata, that was a fantastic meal," Naruto murmured into her ear, laying his nose against her neck and pulling her closer. She leaned back; Minato was cradled against her chest, fast asleep.

"Mmm."

"You miss Iruka."

"Mmm."

"Moegi said he should be home tonight."

"That's good -"

Everyone was instantly at attention when the door slammed open. Iruka dashed into the dining room and nearly tripped when he caught his foot in the carpet. It looked as though he had foregone medical treatment altogether – his left wrist was hanging awkwardly at his side and under the remains of his shirt they could see many bandages. He was looking at the rest of the Uzumakis like he'd never seen them before. Then his gaze locked on Hinata.

"…Mom…"

Minato was gently handed off to Naruto and the two embraced. Iruka's teammates, especially Uchiha Akane, teased him about being a 'momma's boy', and he had always admitted it with a rueful grin. He'd had the privilege of being the first child, the only one with individual attention from both parents, and it showed especially in his relationship with his mother.

"And why didn't you go to the hospital?" She asked fiercely, being careful as she hugged him so as not to aggravate his injuries. "You look awful!"

"I love you, too, mom," he said, only just managing to roll his eyes because he was so exhausted. "Where… where have you been…?"

"Let's get you cleaned up, and then I will tell you everything," Hinata vowed. Her eyes were already roaming over the damage.

"But mom!" Kushina cut in pleadingly. "We've waited for AGES! Can't we please start while you patch up Iru-nii?"

"Kushina, your brother is fresh from a mission! I will not –"

"Mom," said Iruka firmly as he looked her in eye – he was almost surpassing her in height, she realized with a pang – and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I really want to hear this."

* * *

"…Hitsuga Shigure, huh?" said Iruka quietly, dark blue hair falling into his eyes.

They had taken their conversation to the living room, clearing around the furniture so that they could position themselves on large, comfortable cushions on the floor. Tsukiko and Minato, the two youngest, were the only ones who didn't have a look of shock, horror, or relief on their faces. Everybody else was transfixed at Hinata's tale – either because of the fact that a man could stoop that low, or that nobody in the village of Konoha had thought to look in the Province, as it was called, or that their much-beloved mother was back among them once more; it was unclear.

"Don't get any ideas," Hinata said at once, looking over his cleaned up form with a knowing glance. "He's been taken care of, just like I said."

"So If I ever feel the need to vent my anger, I can just mosey on down to Konoha Maximum-Security Correctional Facility?"

"You most certainly may not, and if I – or any of my contacts within the village – ever hear about it, you will be in big trouble."

"Bigger than the time that Toshi and Kushina filled the entire Academy with multicolored gelatin and chickens?"

Hinata rolled her eyes while the twins exchanged a high five with identical grins. "Yes. Much, much more trouble. Revenge is not something I want anybody in this family in which to invest themselves. Got it?"

She went around the circle, getting a firm yes from each of the ones who had mastered speech at this point, until finally she reached Naruto. He turned his head away and crossed his arms over his chest with a dismissive noise.

"Naruto!" she hissed. "Please, try to set an example –"

"Hinata, I don't think you understand what this experience has put me through," he said, voice quiet but intense. "It was different for the kids. They had each other, and thank the gods they did. But me? I had no one. It was just me and an empty bedroom every night for a year. Do you know what that feels like?"

She flinched, and he almost took it back when he realized that no, she hadn't ever had that sort of experience and that she probably felt horribly guilty for sharing a bed with someone other than him. But he couldn't do it. He had to make her realize what her absence had done to him, so that they could all take steps to prevent it from happening ever, ever again.

"Just… don't go out of your way, alright?" she pleaded quietly, looking up at him. "If the opportunity presents itself, fine, but don't seek it out. Don't be like – like Sasuke."

"Mom?" Tsunade looked curious. "What do you mean, like Sasuke? Are you talking about Sasu-ojii?"

"That's a story for another time," said Hinata, not looking away from Naruto. He nodded reluctantly.

"I can live with that."

The Uzumaki Clan spent the night together, all curled up in the living room.

* * *

His cell was devoid of light; he was blindfolded, and the stone floor was wet. What had he ever done to deserve this? All he had wanted was to love and be loved. Was that such a crime?

"I'm glad I could meet you personally."

He didn't look up. His gaze locked on the floor. He would not give them the satisfaction of his –

"The satisfaction of your defeated face?"

Shigure looked up at the blonde woman with a stricken face. "W-what? Did you just –"

"Read your mind? Yes." She smiled predatorily. "Nara Ino's my name. I'll be your companion for this evening. And it isn't gonna be pretty – do you know how much of a pain it was to convince my husband to watch all three kids? Not cool. Not cool at all."

"Why are you doing this? A woman's disposition isn't suited for such –"

"Okay, now you've sealed the deal. But first…" Ino gestured toward the thick, steel door. It opened, and for a moment he was blinded by the light of the hallway.

"Shigure. I don't think we've been formally introduced."

His heart was thudding so painfully loud, he was sure that both ninja in the room could hear it.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I am the Rokudaime Hokage. You recently kidnapped my wife and held her in your home for over a year, along with my son."

"Only out of love!" Shigure said desperately, staring down the most powerful man in the world. "I only did what I did because I –"

"_Don't you think of completing that sentence!" _Naruto roared, grabbing Shigure by the front of his shirt, shredding the already threadbare garment even more with his claws - they had appeared out of nowhere. They had grown so much and so quickly that they easily pierced the skin of his chest. Shigure stared into the face of his worst nightmares – an angular and bestial face, a snarling mouth complete with fangs, and eyes that showed such a complete hatred that Shigure felt his blood turn to ice. Time stopped for a brief moment, and he only began to realize the extent of what he had done.

"If you had any sort of love for Hinata – or anybody but yourself! – you never would have done what you did! Don't you ever claim love for Hinata!"

Naruto threw him backward hard so that his head collided with the stone wall behind him. His vision went starry and he slumped against the wall, breathing hard.

"He's all yours, Ino," said Naruto darkly, sweeping out of the cell. Ino smiled coldly at Shigure, and he whimpered in return.

"It's going to be a long night, Shigure…"

Outside, Naruto leaned against the wall and buried his head in his hands. As satisfying as this was, he still felt a crushing guilt weigh upon his conscience. He really couldn't live with Hinata's compromise, so he had arranged this alternative.

He had broken a promise. Maybe he had not promised outright, but he had gone back on his word. So he cried. He cried for his breaking of a promise, and for the fact that he now had a secret to keep from Hinata.

* * *

_o0o  
The office of the Rokudaime Hokage released a formal statement earlier today concerning the Hokage's wife's, Uzumaki Hinata's, year-long disappearance. _

"_Uzumaki-san was kidnapped on a mission that was set up specifically for that reason, and was held captive in the Province for several months by a man who was working not to start a war but for his own selfish ends. She was brought back to Konoha through the combined efforts of special agent Hanaka Fujiko, who now works as liaison to the Raikage and the Hokage's good friend and commander, Uchiha Sakura. It was unknown at the time but Uzumaki-san went on the mission while pregnant. Luckily, both her and the child, Uzumaki Minato, returned unharmed."_

_The report went on to mention the Provincial man, Hitsuga Shigure, in great detail, as well as the lengths he went to in order to keep Uzumaki Hinata captive. The full transcript will be available in tomorrow's paper.  
o0o_

Hinata straightened the framed article proudly, tracing the dusty pane of glass with her fingertips. That newspaper had been released almost ten years ago now, and since then she'd had no major separation from her children. She herself had not gone out of the village on a mission by herself in years.

"Hey mom, I'm home!"

Minato dropped his backpack on the floor of the kitchen, stretching his arms far above his head while he yawned a bit. Hinata smiled at him. "Welcome home. How was cram school?"

The ten-year-old pantomimed dying and Hinata rolled her eyes. "Get used to it. If you really want to rival Katsu-kun, you're going to have to put everything you've got into all aspects of your education."

Minato scoffed. "If Uchiha thinks he can beat me, he's got another thing coming! I already skipped a grade and I still dominate the class ranking."

"I believe Katsu-kun shares the top spot with you," said Hinata, looking at her youngest pointedly. "While you best him in practical examinations, he beats you on the paper tests."

"I know, which is the only reason I agreed to go to cram. In fact, the idea of beating him totally is the only thing that gets me through cram."

"Both you and your father have such one-track minds about these things. Don't you get fulfillment out of anything else?"

"Absolutely not!" said Minato, sniffing haughtily. Hinata smirked. "Oh? Not even Azami-chan?"

"What?! No way!"

Hinata laughed at the blush on his cheeks. "Whatever you say, dear. I need to go talk to your father. Will you be okay by yourself for a while?"

"Mom, I'm already _ten! _I'll be fine!"

* * *

"Clearly, all three of them are in a class of their own. She may not be a contender for the top spot like the boys are, but she leads her kunoichi classes and even though she's still in the Academy, she's proficient at several healing jutsu. Healing jutsu! At ten years old! Just a few years ago, we would've thought that sort of control would be near impossible for a child that young."

"Still…I would prefer that they be kept with children of their own age. Many other ninja who have graduated early have developed serious problems with depression and other mental illnesses."

"Hinata's absolutely right. Kakashi-sensei is a prime example."

"Naruto! Take this seriously!"

The Rokudaime rolled his eyes at his former teammate, causing her face to turn an even darker, angrier red. "These are our children we're talking about! You could be a little more sincere –"

"Sakura, my son is ten years old. There is no way in hell I'm letting him graduate early. I want to keep him away from death as long as possible. I know it won't be forever. But I can keep it from him a little bit longer. So really, this conversation is pointless."

"No, not necessarily," said Shikamaru. "I know that this is a hard concept for you to understand, but we're _planning ahead_."

"Like Ikuki-san said, they're in a class of their own. I know that I don't want Azami-chan to graduate early, but if we don't, she'll likely end up on a team with Katsu-kun and Minato-kun, if only because their skill levels far exceed anybody else in their class." Ino looked at Naruto pointedly. "So this conversation isn't pointless."

"I just don't like the idea of planning their futures for them. For all we know, one of them could easily peak where they are now, and then not continue the growth pattern we've been seeing." He let his gaze slid taunting to Sasuke and then back. Sasuke scowled in return, tensing and reaching for his katana.

"Stop it," said Hinata instantly, looking from rival to rival. "Right now, both of you! We've got other things to discuss before you destroy this poor office for the nth time. Like, if they do continue this escalation of talent and we don't let them graduate early, how can we supplement their Academy training? Obviously, they're going to outgrow the curriculum before they graduate."

"We have to be careful. Any 'supplemental' training could be viewed as favoritism." Sakura frowned. She knew a lot of people who would immediately call them on it.

"Right. And who could we have teach them? What should they be taught? Should they be trained as a team?" Ino continued.

"And do you see what comes from planning ahead? Even more confusing questions!" Naruto said, sighing. "Can we just leave this off until at least a year from now? Then they'll be a lot closer to graduating, and that's when everybody else considers the teams for graduation. Why do we have to be special?"

"I guess that's enough for today," said Sakura with a frown. She had been the one to organize the meeting, and to see it fall apart by Naruto's logic was not heartening to her.

"Finally! Everybody clear off, I've got work to do," Naruto grumbled, turning back to the papers on his desk. "Uzumaki-san, you can stay," he ordered authoritatively, not looking up as he addressed Hinata in particular.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "We should've suspected something when he said he had work to do," he said with quiet annoyance.

"I see somebody's feeling threatened. Afraid that my son will best yours, Sasuke-kuuun?"

"Hinata's genes are his only saving grace. I have nothing to worry about."

"Alright, time to go!" Sakura said in a loud voice, grasping Sasuke's upper arm with her super strength and dragging him out of the office. Hinata took up a similar stance at Naruto's side, putting a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Do you always have to bait him?" Hinata asked, sighing at her husband's pout. "You're setting an awful example for Minato. You should hear how he goes on about his rivalry with Katsu-kun! He doesn't talk about it in front of you as much – wants to look very nonchalant about it all – but around anybody else, beating Katsu is all he talks about."

"Babe, he's following in the hallowed tradition of his forefathers! Jiraiya and Orochimaru, Obito and Kakashi, me and Sasuke."

"Did you just compare Katsu to Orochimaru?"

"If he ends up beating Minato in class rank, then yes. Yes I did."

"You are totally incorrigible!" Hinata said. She tried to look severe but instead just ended up laughing.

"You know you love it," said Naruto. He grinned and stood up, pulling her into an affectionate embrace. "Mmm…"

"Long day?" she murmured, breathing deeply.

"Yea… I'm glad Nobuyuki is coming this week."

"You didn't tell me the Raikage was coming," she accused without real venom.

"Really? Sorry."

They stood together in peaceful silence for a long moment. It was rudely interrupted when Kazuki barreled into the room, panting heavily. Both of them broke apart instantly, startled out of their reverie.

"Kazu-kun?" Hinata started tentatively. "What –"

"Hokage-sama! Sensei! There's been an escape from the Konoha Correctional!"

"What?" Kazuki had the Hokage's full attention. "How many? What time? Do we know who?"

"Only one, maybe an hour ago – Hitsuga Shigure!"

Hinata and Naruto locked gazes. "Minato," they said in unison. Faster than Kazuki could register, Naruto put a hand on Hinata's arm and disappeared with a flash of orange and black.

* * *

Less than a second later, the famous couple reappeared outside of their house.

"Minato? _Minato?!_"

"Mom? Dad?"

The blonde kid poked his head out of the front door, looking confused. "Is something wrong?"

"Minato!" Hinata rushed forward, heedless of all else. "Are you alright? Has anyone stopped by the house, given you anything, done anything to you …?"

"Well, this creepy guy let himself in and tried to attack me, but –"

Naruto was inside the house by the time he had said 'creepy guy'. His nose and chakra-sensing capabilities led him into the kitchen. What he saw was not what he expected.

There was a creepy man in the center of it all. His long, dark hair was shaggy, unkempt, and greasy. Blood dripped from a head wound down his face; one of his eyes was bruising rapidly and it looked as though his nose was broken. One elbow was bent the wrong way completely and a broken bone had pierced the skin of his right leg. He had been tied up most effectively, and it looked as though all of this had happened at no loss to the kitchen.

"Dad, you didn't let me finish!" complained Minato as he stepped into the kitchen. "He tried to attack me, but he was totally useless. It took me about three seconds to down him."

Naruto stared at his son and was silent for a full minute.

"Three seconds? And you did this much damage? Wow! That's fantastic! And look at that leg! You must have been hitting at top speed for it to be that bad!"

Minato looked at his father hesitantly. "…you're not upset?"

"Upset? _Upset? _I'm proud! Do you know who this man is?"

"No."

"Hitsuga Shigure!"

"Really?" Minato looked overwhelmed for a second. "…AWESOME! Can we take pictures?!"

"No, you may not!" said Hinata with an uncharacteristic glare. "Our family is more classy than that, thank you very much!"

She strode into the kitchen and bent down to inspect the damage. "Though really dear, this is excellent work. Top marks. You really could graduate right now."

Minato looked at her, starry-eyed at the prospect of besting Katsuro in such a way. "Mom, can I –"

"Absolutely not. Naruto, why don't you call …somebody… and have them save our kitchen from the stench?"

"We may be classy… but we can still do our own work, princess," said Naruto as he summoned several shadow clones. Hinata stopped them in the process of taking Shigure back to prison.

"Wait. Something needs to be done." She pulled her fist back and then let it fly. It caught the half-conscious Shigure directly in the nose, and if he hadn't been restrained by three shadow clones he would've gone flying through the window behind him.

"If you're awake in there, Shigure… if you ever fuck with my family again, I will make your death slow and painful, got that?"

Naruto was smirking as his clones towed Shigure away. Minato looked at his mother like he'd never seen her before.

"Mom, that was so cool! I've never heard you swear before!"

"I better not hear you say that word, young man!" said Hinata stiffly, straightening out her clothes with much aplomb.

"But you just said it," he replied with a pout.

"That's because that man almost ruined my life and the life of one of my children, and then tried to kill one of my children. What do you do in that sort of situation, talk nicely? Hell no."

"Mom!" Minato was even more impressed.

"I may be your mother but I'm still an Uzumaki," said Hinata crisply. "And have you finished cleaning your room?"

"I'm almost done, I just -"

"Need to start? Well, go on then."

Grumbling, the youngest of the Uzumaki clan scampered out of the kitchen and down the hall to his room.

"You tell him girlfriend," said Naruto, still smirking.

"You seem pleased with yourself," said Hinata loftily, avoiding him as he attempted to put an arm around her. "Is there a reason?"

"You just continue to impress me, Hinata. That's all. I'm just glad you're mine." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, using that look he always did to soften her up. It worked like a charm – as always – and soon she threw herself into his arms, trying to memorize the moment.

"Always, Naruto."

* * *

"_The true beloveds of this world are in their lover's eyes, lilacs opening, ship lights, school bells, a landscape, remembered conversations, friends, a child's Sunday, lost voices, one's favorite suit, autumn and all seasons, __**memory, yes, it being the earth and water of existence, memory.**__"  
_  
_Truman Capote_

* * *

END

* * *

Well, there you go. One big chapter o' fluff and Shigure torture. This was really hard to write. And seriously, this time, ending was rushed and lame in my opinion. Will likely be revised later. Thoughts?

Lolz, Kakashi as the Hokage. I mean, seriously people! Kakashi?! NO! Stop making him the Rokudaime. That's Naruto's job. Shichidaime sounds really lame. Konohamaru can have that one. Roku's cool.

_**Sousei no rendan**_ – The Barrage of the Twins, twins' barrage if you enjoy brevity. Anybody care to guess Ikuki-sensei's mother? You all know from context that she was on a team with Kazuki under Hinata. AsuKure's kid was also on their team. But that's for another one shot.

**Nee/Nii – **older sister and older brother, respectively. If you're going to use these in a story, please get them right. Hinata is NOT Hanabi's older brother. And Hanabi is NOT Hinata's older brother. _Nee/nii_ always applies to the older sibling. Younger siblings are _imouto_, little sister, and _otouto_, younger brother.


End file.
